Games Demons Play
by gkeeper91
Summary: Random events from Yuuri and Wolfram's life.
1. Game 1: Liar, Liar

Games Demons Play

_Game: The game described here is called __Liar, Liar__. I was told that there are other variations of this game, and that the mechanics could differ. The procedure and rules described here are those I'm familiar with. _

* * *

Game I: Liar, Liar

* * *

"I'm so sorry about this," said Yuuri for the third time, extracting a huff of annoyance from the blond Mazoku who was currently perched cross-legged on the bed.

"Don't apologize. This isn't your fault."

"But I promised that I'd take you and Greta out—"

"Again," said Wolfram in exasperation, "it's not your fault. It's not as if you can control the weather Yuuri. At least not in this world." His dark green eyes moved towards the window, where a patch of a turbulent sky could be discerned from view. As if to further underline the boy's point, the winds howled ominously, slamming against the glass panes with such intensity that Yuuri was worried for a moment that the windows would break.

"But even so…" Yuuri persisted, but then stopped when his fiancé threw a warning glance in his direction. He sighed miserably. "Why did a storm have to come _now_? I planned for this _ages _ago. This was supposed to be a time for us to relax. And this is Greta's first time on Earth too…"

"Greta doesn't mind," Wolfram replied at once. "Besides, she seems to be having so much fun with your mother right now. I saw them at the kitchen on my way up."

"Great," groaned Yuuri, finding no source of relief from that information. "Now our daughter would master the art of curry cooking. Brace yourself, Wolf. Once we get back, we'd have nothing to eat but curry…"

Wolfram shrugged, shuffling back to recline lazily on the pillows. "I don't really mind. As long as Greta makes it, I guess. Nobody had really cooked for me before."

The casual statement caught Yuuri off-guard and he stared at the other boy in disbelief. "Oh come on. Don't tell me that you make your own meals?"

"I don't," Wolfram replied. "But Mother can't really cook, so we leave the preparation of meals to the servants."

"So _somebody_ had cooked for you before."

"Well yes, technically," said Wolfram, rolling his eyes at him. "But servants don't count because they're paid to do those things."

"I see…" Yuuri lapsed into a contemplative silence, studying Wolfram's profile, eyes moving from the other boy's slightly tousled locks, down his pajama-clad legs, to his bare feet. It took him a few seconds to realize that he had been staring.

"What?" Wolfram asked, frowning at him.

Yuuri shook his head. He had been doing this a lot lately, just staring at his accidental fiancé for no apparent reason. He really should stop, especially now that he was running out of excuses to explain this strange tendency.

"Nothing," Yuuri finally managed to mumble. "Er…since we can't go out, what would you like to do instead?"

"What do you usually do when the weather's this bad?" Wolfram asked.

Yuuri frowned, thinking. Then he said slowly, as an idea formed inside his head, "Well…we – that is, Shori and I – used to play board games…or cards…"

"Cards? What are those?" asked the boy with the barest hint of curiosity, head tilted to one side.

"Cards," Yuuri repeated. "Wait, I think I have a deck here somewhere." He shuffled around, opening drawers randomly and pushing a bunch of his various possessions aside to make his search easier. Finally, he found a pack wedged between an old paperback and a metal bookend. He took the deck with him and joined Wolfram on the bed.

"Here," Yuuri said, crossing his legs, copying Wolfram's posture. "These are playing cards."

The boy took one – the ace of clubs – and examined the illustration. After a while, he asked, "So? How do we play with these?"

Yuuri had been thinking about that. A deck of cards could give way to several games, most of which were extremely complicated to explain to an impatient, hot-tempered fire-wielder. Yuuri decided to go with a simple card game that he had learned from a guy in school.

"Well, there's one game in particular. It's called 'Liar, Liar.'" He paused, organizing his thoughts so that he could explain the game properly. Wolfram leaned back against the headboard, waiting for the details. Yuuri showed him the cards first, allowing him to get acquainted with the suits. Then he started explaining the rules of the game.

"The mechanics are simple. We each get a certain number of cards. Then, we try to get rid of all of them. The one who gets rid of all his cards first wins the game."

"So when you say 'get rid' of them, you mean…?"

"We each get to place a card – or more – of one kind, face down, then tell the other what those cards are. Like this…" Yuuri shuffled the cards, dealt them into three sets, gave one set to Wolfram, and kept one for himself. Then he opened his cards and motioned for the other boy to do the same. Wolfram did so, looking a bit mystified but just barely interested.

"And then, I go first," said Yuuri, picking two cards from his hand and placing them face down on the space between them. "Two aces."

Wolfram stared at the cards, brows creased. "But how do I know that those are _really_ two aces?"

"That's the point," said Yuuri. "You don't. So once I make my move, you have three choices – one, you can add to the cards I've just discarded…"

"Any card?" Wolfram interrupted, paying more attention.

"No. It must be the same kind. So since I've just placed down two aces, all you can add is an ace too…or more…"

Wolfram frowned, looking at his cards. "The ace is the weird, lonely-looking one, right?"

Yuuri chuckled at the boy's description. "Yes, that's the one."

"And if I don't have an ace?"

"That leads us to the second choice – you can pass. If you pass, I'll have to lay down another set of cards…"

Wolfram bit his lip, thinking for a moment. Finally, he said, "I pass."

Yuuri grinned, selecting three cards from his hand and placing them atop the ones he had disposed of a minute ago. "Three aces."

For a moment, Wolfram did not say anything. Then his eyes widened with indignation, perhaps realizing that there could only be _four_ aces in a whole deck of cards. "Hey, that can't be right!"

Yuuri smirked at the boy's expression. "Which leads us to the third choice – you can challenge my cards and accuse me of being a liar. If you do, we'll have to open the cards and see. But be careful" – he said quickly as Wolfram had already raised an accusing finger and pointed it at him – "because if I turn out to be telling the truth, you will have to pick up all the cards that have been discarded so far."

Wolfram pursed his lips, seeming to mull over this information for a moment before asking, "And if we prove that you're lying?"

"Then _I'll _be the one who has to pick up all the discarded cards." He grinned at the bemused fire-wielder. "So? What will you do?"

Wolfram said slowly, "There _can't_ be five aces, so you must be lying." He stared at Yuuri with those intense green eyes and mumbled, "Cheater."

The accusation came so suddenly and so horribly out-of-context to what Yuuri was used to that he couldn't help but burst into laughter. Cheater. Wolfram had often accused him of being one but never in the context of a simple game. The said boy was staring at him defensively and Yuuri had to swallow another fit of laughter that threatened to escape his lips. "I'm sorry. I just…I just...It's just so funny…"

It was clear from Wolfram's expression that he couldn't see the humor in the situation, so Yuuri decided to bring the topic back to the card game. He cleared his throat. "So…you're accusing me then?" His lips twitched and he fought hard to keep his facial muscles in check. "Of being a liar, I mean."

"Of course I am," the other retorted through clenched teeth. "You're obviously lying."

"Okay. You say 'Liar' and then we open the cards."

"Liar," Wolfram huffed. He reached out to flip the cards over, and was met by the sight of…three aces. The boy stared, confused, and Yuuri found himself admiring the look of perplexity on the former's features. It was completely adorable.

But the expression quickly passed, only to be replaced by a suspicious, angry one. The boy turned to the first two cards that Yuuri had disposed of, revealing an ace and a…seven.

"I lied the first time," Yuuri said helpfully, hurrying on with his explanation before Wolfram flies into a rage. It was a good thing that the boy couldn't use his maryoku completely on Earth. Otherwise, Yuuri thought that he'd probably be beset with fireballs by now. "That's part of the game, Wolf! A player can basically place any card and pass it off as something else. You just have to lie and bluff your way through until you have no card left."

Silence.

Wolfram just stared at him through narrowed eyes. Then just as Yuuri was starting to mentally pound himself for suggesting the game in the first place, the boy grinned. Yuuri didn't know if he should feel relieved. The look on Wolfram's face told him that the boy was now taking the game seriously. For some reason, Yuuri suddenly felt scared.

"Your turn, Yuuri," Wolfram said, scooping the cards in his hand, eyes glinting menacingly.

"Er…" Yuuri swallowed hard. "Three queens."

"One more," the boy said confidently, placing a card on top of Yuuri's discarded ones, smirking at him, as if daring him to challenge his move. Yuuri thought it best not to do so. At least for the meantime.

"I pass."

Wolfram smiled triumphantly. "Two kings."

Yuuri paused, considering his move. "Two more."

Green eyes sparkled with mischief. "Two more."

Black eyes shone with amusement. Wolfram was getting the hang of this. But he wouldn't be able to outwit Yuuri just yet. "Two more."

A gleam of perfectly white teeth, and Wolfram's angelic face twisted with an impish smirk. "Four more kings."

Yuuri hesitated. Then making a decision, he said, "Liar." He reached out to flip the cards over, and to his horror, saw four kings.

It was the other boy's turn to laugh at him. "Got you."

Yuuri shook his head at his fiancé, smiling indulgently. "I can't believe this. You're amazing."

Wolfram shrugged modestly. "So are you. You're surprisingly good at this…"

"Of course. I've been playing this game for so long," said Yuuri, collecting all the discarded cards.

"Not the game. In lying." The boy fixed him with one curious green eye. "I've always thought that you were the stubbornly honest type…"

For some reason, Yuuri felt the heat rise up to his face. "You think too much of me. You and everybody else. I'm not perfect."

"We're not saying that you are."

"You make me feel so. I'm always trying my best and all, but sometimes I wonder whether I'm doing enough…"

Wolfram beamed at him, and the action made his face glow. "You're the best Maou that we've ever had. Although don't tell my mother that I said that."

Yuuri smiled back. "I won't. Thank you."

A beat. "For what?"

"For always knowing what to say to cheer me up."

"I just tell you the truth," said Wolfram simply.

"Well yes, but…it means a lot…"

Another pause. And then – "Liar."

Yuuri looked up, confused. "No, I'm telling the truth—"

"I meant your cards, silly," the boy answered, chortling.

"Oh." Yuuri had temporarily forgotten about the game. He couldn't even remember what moves he had made for the past minute. Wolfram reached out one pale hand to turn the cards over, and his face fell.

"Damn it," the boy muttered under his breath, swiping the discarded cards away with one hand. He glanced at Yuuri with a slightly resentful look. "Your turn, then."

"Er…" Yuuri floundered for a moment. "Two sevens."

"Two more."

"One more."

Wolfram's lips lifted into another playful smile. "Four more."

"Hey!" Yuuri whined. He had momentarily lost his concentration and was having a bit of a difficulty getting back on track.

"You could challenge that," Wolfram dared. Yuuri shook his head. The other boy laughed and placed four more cards on the space between them. "Four more sevens."

They continued in that vein for a moment, watching each other closely for any sign of deceit. Then Yuuri asked something that was bothering him for the past minute, "Wolf…why do you do that?"

Wolfram looked convincingly innocent. "Do what?"

"Deflect," Yuuri replied. "I…I mean, just a while ago, I was thanking you about…well…you know…and then, you just changed the topic. Er…" He chuckled a little as an impossible thought entered his mind. "Are you actually embarrassed…?"

Wolfram pursed his lips, annoyed, but his face had also turned slightly red. "Of course not."

"Liar," said Yuuri fondly.

"I told you I'm not!"

Yuuri grinned. "I meant your cards, silly."

Wolfram flushed deeply, keeping his eyes on his cards, avoiding Yuuri's gaze. "This is stupid. No one will ever win this thing."

"Yeah," agreed Yuuri. "But I used to enjoy this, you know. Trying to fool your opponent and outwit him. I mean, you get to do something that is normally forbidden – lie your way through."

"Nothing good ever comes out of lies," Wolfram declared, abandoning his cards.

Yuuri did the same, all interest in the game gone, his attention shifting to the other boy's reaction. "You sound like you have a lot of experience in this…"

"In what?" Wolfram asked, blushing once again.

Yuuri was starting to enjoy how easily the boy would color up at the simplest of things, and he replied shortly, "Lying."

Wolfram rolled his eyes. "Of course I've lied before. Especially when I was younger. But my lies only work on the servants. My brothers could always tell when I'm not being truthful. Even Mother does, and you know how she usually is…"

"Have you ever lied to me?" Yuuri neither knew where that question came from nor why he felt that the answer to that was so important. He just sat back and waited for a response.

Wolfram seemed to be having a hard time answering. But finally he said, "Not so much because…well…I tend to say what I think…all the time…"

"Well, what about that time that you left for the Bielefeld territories? You lied about not wanting to be engaged to me anymore?" Yuuri was surprised at himself for asking _that_ but well, it was too late to take the question back.

Wolfram gaped at him, but he quickly recovered. "I…I never said that I didn't want to be engaged to you anymore."

"You wrote that letter, remember?"

"Yes. And if memory serves me right, I just said that I was dissolving the engagement…"

"Okay," said Yuuri, "but it was _implied _there just the same."

Wolfram frowned. "You knew why I had to do that."

"I do, but you actually didn't have to."

"Of course I had to. In order to protect you," Wolfram insisted, then added in a possessive tone, "You _are_ my fiancé after all."

Strangely enough, that made Yuuri happy. He beamed at Wolfram, but his face fell almost immediately at his fiancé's next question.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

Wolfram eyed him curiously. "Have _you _ever lied to_me?"_

"I…" Yuuri struggled to say something, anything. The honest response would have been a 'yes'. He hadn't been entirely truthful about a lot of things, especially when that concerned his emerging feelings for Wolfram. He had to lie, Yuuri thought in a vain effort to justify his previous actions. He had to continue lying. Because the truth was…embarrassing…and not to mention intolerable. At least for him.

"Have you?" Wolfram repeated, looking him straight in the eye.

"Er…" What was Yuuri supposed to answer to that? "Er…why do you ask?"

Good, answer a question with another question. Delaying tactic number one.

"Just…curious," Wolfram answered, shrugging.

"Curious?" Yuuri echoed. Delaying tactic number two – repeating the last word in the other boy's statement.

"I guess it's because you're not a very good liar, so I'm guessing that lying would take a lot of effort on your part. I'm just curious about the sort of things that you wanted to hide so badly that you would resort to a lie."

"What makes you think that I'm hiding something?" said Yuuri in a wounded tone. Inwardly, he applauded himself. Act like you were offended. Delaying tactic number three.

"I'm not suggesting anything like that. It's just…" There was a rather long pause, wherein Wolfram seemed to be attempting to find the appropriate words to explain himself. After a beat, the boy sighed in defeat and muttered, "Oh just forget it."

Yuuri wanted to sigh himself, but he kept his face as blank as possible. It still wasn't too late. He could still bring the conversation back to lies, and perhaps through that, he could finally tell Wolfram how he felt about him…

Heart pounding loudly, he tried again. "Actually…Wolf?"

Wolfram leaned forward expectantly. "Yes?"

Yuuri opened his mouth to say something, but the words that came out were a lot more different from what he had initially intended to say. "Are you hungry?"

Wolfram looked disappointed, but he smiled just the same. "Well, I guess we should go and taste Greta's cooking…"

"Yeah, let's go eat curry!" Yuuri cried with feigned enthusiasm, hurriedly leaping out of the bed. Internally though, he winced at his own cowardice, especially because he knew all to well that his delaying tactics would soon run out and by then, he would have to confront his real feelings towards his accidental fiancé.

* * *

"Kei-san? Are you awake? We're nearly there."

Kei opened his eyes groggily, head still spinning from the lack of sleep. Pierre's – his personal assistant's – apologetic face wavered in and out of his vision. Kei massaged his temples wearily. Perhaps he shouldn't have drunk that entire bottle of wine back at the welcome dinner last night.

He shrugged. Oh well, it was too late for regrets.

"It's too bad that we had to arrive here in this weather," Pierre said conversationally, looking out of the train's window. "But the news said that the storm will let up soon. We're hoping that it won't deter your admirers from attending your exhibit."

Here…Weather…Storm…Admirers…Exhibit…

It took a moment for Kei to finally comprehend what his companion was talking about. Here meant the Saitama Prefecture. Weather and storm meant that they were all idiots for traveling in the middle of the night, at the height of a tropical storm. Admirers meant his legion of adoring, female – and occasionally male – fans. Exhibit was the reason why they braved the inhospitable weather conditions to get to this foreign place, miles away from home.

Exhibit meant his paintings being displayed for the consumption of critical, foreign eyes.

Kei believed himself to be a rather competent painter, in as far as his works had achieved attention and renown from the artistic community, just a few months after he'd started. A sentiment that was not shared by the one person in the world that he wanted to impress the most – his father.

Kei's father had once been a famous painter himself, at least before his wife – Kei's mother – walked out on him for another man. His father succumbed to alcohol after that – an addiction that he had never gotten rid of even after ten years. Kei had not seen his father since a year ago, when he had finally left home for good.

Now that he was making a name out of himself in this same field, Kei felt a bit apprehensive. What was wrong with him? Getting invited to display his work in the Saitama Museum of Modern Art should at least count for something…

But Kei was afraid, and he knew the reason why. In his excitement that someone had taken notice of his paintings, he had paid a visit to his father to inform him of the good news. Kei did not actually know what he was expecting to get from the man. A small degree of recognition perhaps? Or at the extreme, pride?

But Kei got neither. What he got was a derisive laughter from the man he had always looked up to as a little boy. His father said a lot more after that – primarily several synonyms and derivatives of the word 'worthless', as well as a lot of offensive remarks connecting his lack of talent and his physical features.

"They don't give a damn about your work," his father had declared. "They just like your _face_." The man spat. "You look so much like your mother."

His father had turned his back on him, slammed the door on his face, and that was that. All in all, what Kei got that day was his father's contemptuous prediction that he would fail miserably.

As the train eased into the next station, Kei pondered over his father's words. True, his mother had been exquisitely beautiful, and true, Kei had inherited her looks. Glancing at his barely-discernible reflection in the window, he saw a face that he was often told was the envy of many. Lustrous, dark hair that extended down to his shoulders, sharp, jet-black eyes, and a fair, almost feminine, complexion. Come to think of it, that might be one of the reasons why his father always seemed to look at him with so much animosity.

Kei willed himself to stay optimistic. His father was wrong. He had what it takes. He could do this.

The train came to a standstill, and a loud electronic voice announced that they had reached their destination. Taking a deep breath, Kei collected his belongings and followed his assistant out into the station.

* * *

The weather had improved dramatically.

Yuuri could tell as soon as he opened his eyes the following morning that the storm had let up. The sun was shining, the light breaking through the gaps in the windowpanes, casting long, yellow slivers on the bedspread.

Beside him, Wolfram stirred in his sleep, and the patterns of sunlight on his coverlet shifted along with him. Yuuri watched him with affection. He could no longer recall when exactly he had become totally okay with this sleeping arrangement. He just knew that he was used to having Wolfram with him every night by now, that it felt weird to not have the boy around anymore. That unwelcome lump at the other side of the bed had oddly become his source of comfort during those cold, damp nights in Blood Pledge Castle.

And occasionally, on Earth too.

Yuuri reached out to shake the sleeping boy's shoulder. As expected, Wolfram did not even budge. Yuuri smiled, his hand straying towards the boy's hair, ruffling it gently. Then his smile faded. What on earth was he doing?

"YUURI! WOLFRAM!"

Yuuri jumped in place, startled as Greta bounded into the room, slamming the door shut behind her. He should really lock that door from now on. That thought only made him blush furiously, as several less-than-innocent scenarios involving him and Wolfram inside a locked room popped inside his head.

Wolfram awoke with a groan. "Greta…" he said. "Please don't do that…"

Greta did not seem to hear him. "It's not raining anymore!"

Wolfram turned a bleary eye towards the window. "I could see that…"

"Let's go out!"

"It's early morning, Greta…"

"Let's go out, please? Yuuri?"

Wolfram raised his hands in surrender, waving one in Yuuri's direction, as if to say that it was his decision. Yuuri said, "Er…maybe we should go. This is what we came here for, right?"

"I guess so…" Wolfram yawned, getting up. "I better get ready then…"

"Yes!" Greta cheered loudly. "You should get ready too, Yuuri!"

"Er…" Yuuri hesitated. Wolfram was making his way to the bathroom right now, obviously to take a shower. He had taken a bath with his fiancé before, but that was in Blood Pledge Castle, where the tub was roughly the length of a football field. There was a _lot_ of space to wade around and avoid bumping into a particular naked someone. But in their regular, Earth bathroom, the chances of colliding with a nude fire Mazoku was significantly higher than usual—

Yuuri shot down the idea before it could conjure a slew of forbidden images from the recesses of his hyperactive imagination.

"—and we could finally go to that place where they have dolphins!" chirped Greta enthusiastically. "This is exciting!"

"Yeah…exciting," said Yuuri, trying – but failing – to match his daughter's energy level. "Greta…could you go and see if mom has breakfast ready?"

"Okay. But you guys should be ready when I come get you!" With that final warning, the girl bounced out of the room.

Yuuri sighed and got out of bed too. Suddenly, he was very, very thankful that they had another bathroom downstairs.

* * *

Water World was their very first destination, which was thankfully open despite the ongoing cleaning-up operations necessitated by the storm the day before.

Having seen the park's displays of various ocean and freshwater species of plant and animal life before, Yuuri spent most of his time as a sort of tourist guide cum bodyguard. With their features, his two companions – Wolfram especially – attracted a lot of attention from the other sightseers. Yuuri didn't mind the occasional curious soul who would approach Wolfram and politely ask from which country he came from. What annoyed him was the more rude and unconventional individuals who openly flirted with his fiancé right in front of his eyes.

Wolfram looked amused at all the attention he was receiving, which in turn, irritated Yuuri to no end. In his opinion, the boy could at least look displeased for being surrounded by all these admirers while in the company of the person he was engaged to. But far from it, Wolfram even looked…smug.

Yuuri fumed inwardly. That cheater!

And that was when he realized it. This was what Wolfram had always complained about him – how he was always surrounded by other people wherever they happened to be in the other world. The situation was reversed this time, and now it was Yuuri who was looking on in resentment as his fiancé's attention was diverted away from him by a couple of bystanders.

Now he understood the feeling.

Something of his dejection must have shown on his face, for Wolfram went back to sit by his side. "Hey," he said lightly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing" was the first answer that Yuuri had intended to say, but halfway from his brain to his mouth, the word transformed into another thing entirely. "Cheater."

"Funny you should say that," Wolfram replied, giving Yuuri a sly look.

It took Yuuri a moment to realize the meaning behind the boy's words. His eyes widened with indignation. "You were doing all that on purpose!" he accused. "That's unfair!"

"I 'm not," Wolfram shot back. "First of all, I have no way of knowing that all these people would come up to talk to me. But now that they did, I was just…indulging myself."

"Indulging?" Yuuri repeated. "An _engaged_ individual shouldn't be behaving like this, Wolf."

"Now _that's_ unfair. How dare you acknowledge our engagement just when it's convenient for you."

"I—"

Wolfram cut him short. "Save it. Greta's coming."

Their daughter did come, hands full with various sweets, parcels, and souvenirs. She was evidently having the time of her life. "Are the dolphins coming out now?"

"Y-yes," Yuuri replied, plastering a smile on his face. "The show's about to start…"

Greta squealed in delight.

"You're not going to eat all of that, are you Greta?" asked Wolfram doubtfully, taking some of the sweets from his daughter's overloaded hands.

"Some are for you," said Greta, beaming at them.

"You did pay for these, didn't you?" asked Yuuri, suddenly nervous. He didn't remember giving his daughter any money. Common sense told him that cash in the hands of a little girl was as dangerous as a gun in the hands of a livid drunk.

"Wolfram gave me money," answered Greta.

Yuuri glanced back at his fiancé. "And where did _you_ get the money?"

"Your mother," replied Wolfram simply. "She thought I might need it."

"And why on earth did you give it to Greta?"

"Because I didn't need it."

Yuuri let out an exasperated sigh. Having grown up surrounded by the vast Bielefeld fortune, Wolfram had a rather lax attitude towards money, which was something that could potentially cause a lot of friction in their relationship especially when they're already married.

Married. Great, now he was thinking of that already when he hadn't even told Wolfram how he truly felt about him. Sure he had dropped hints here and there, and he had hoped that his actions would somehow tell his fiancé what he couldn't verbally express, but now that Yuuri thought about it, maybe those still weren't enough.

"Yuuri! The dolphins!" Greta's excited voice roused him from his thoughts.

"G-great," he said, clapping along with his daughter as the trained water mammals broke the surface of the pool and started jumping through their trainers' hoops.

Yuuri had no chance to talk to Wolfram after that, as even the boy was very much engrossed in the dolphins' act. Dolphins were considered wild, ferocious animals in the other world, and the fact that they were trained to dance and do cutesy tricks for the public could indeed appear to be very impressive.

Yuuri tried to imagine his companions' wonder by superimposing a shark's image for each of the dolphins that jumped up to do the trainers' bidding. It worked for the most part, and for the first few minutes, he was able to enjoy the show again. But more than the show, Yuuri actually liked the feeling of being in the same bench as Wolfram, with Greta between them, doing something as ordinary as this.

For a moment there, they were a family, and that made Yuuri smile in contentment.

But the show ended much too quickly for Yuuri's liking. As they trudged down the bleachers along with the other spectators, he turned back to cast one last glance at his fiancé, silently wondering how he could possibly gain the courage to tell this impulsive, hot-tempered, sharp-tongued demon that he was in love with him.

But as the crowd thinned down, Yuuri realized with concern that the said impulsive, hot-tempered, sharp-tongued demon was no longer behind them.

"Hey, where's Wolfram?" Greta asked.

Yuuri swiveled around, completing an entire three hundred sixty degree turn before finally accepting that Wolfram was missing.

His heart thumped wildly.

_Oh no._

* * *

Wolfram stood at the corner of the park, eyeing everything distrustfully. He had lost Yuuri and Greta in the crowd, and when he tried to get back to them, he found to his chagrin that he didn't have any clue how to get back to the dolphin enclosure. He had been walking around for about an hour now and still he hadn't the slightest inkling where he was right now.

To make things worse, he couldn't read any of the strange symbols around him. Anissina should perhaps consider inventing a device that would also enable them to understand this world's written language. He should really drop her a line when he gets back to the castle.

If he ever gets back at all.

Wolfram scowled at himself. He was thinking so pessimistically about his predicament. Sure, he was lost, but he would soon find his way back to Yuuri. Besides, his fiancé must be looking for him right now.

_He better be_, Wolfram thought in infuriation. That wimp should be _frantically _searching every nook and cranny of this damned place just to find him.

"Hey mister! Do you want one?"

A cheerful-looking guy clutching a bunch of colored parchments approached him. He was dressed like most of the people Wolfram had passed by that day – a sort of black and white ensemble with a weirdly-shaped cravat around his neck.

"It's my boss's exhibit," the stranger explained, pointing towards a steel and concrete building in the distance. "At the Museum of Modern Art. Right over there."

"Museum?" Wolfram asked, taking a cautious step back.

"Here." The man waved one of the parchments in his face. "Come and take a look."

Wolfram could not read the characters emblazoned in the glossy paper, but then the pictures made him stop. These were – he squinted at the small images – paintings. One in particular caught his eye. It was of a young man standing beside a cliff overlooking the ocean. The subject's back was half-turned against the viewer so that only one side of his face could be seen. He looked like he was waiting for someone, or watching someone go, or wondering whether he ought to jump down into the treacherous waters below.

The entire scene radiated with a certain tenor of sadness and indecisiveness and gloom that Wolfram felt immediately drawn.

The strange man looked pleased at his reaction. He said, "That's a self-portrait. If you want to see Kei-san's other works, you should really go to the museum."

"Kei?" Wolfram echoed. "Is he an artist?"

"Yes, of course. And a very good one." The man's enthusiasm dampened slightly. "He'd be great if he'd just believe in himself a little." He gave a start, seemingly coming to his senses. "Er, forget I said that. Just come to the second floor if you're interested!"

Wolfram watched the strange man go. After a moment's hesitation, he shrugged and started off for the building at the center of the park.

* * *

"You _lost_ him? What do you mean you _lost_ him?"

His mother's voice grated annoyingly in his ears. Yuuri held the cell phone at arm's length, allowing his mother to rant about his carelessness for a few minutes before finally cutting in.

"I lost him in the crowd, mom," Yuuri explained. "I just want to find him okay?"

Unmindful of his feelings, his mother launched once again into a passionate speech. "That's what you get for ignoring Wolf-chan for so long! Now you have to deal with his disappearance and be sad and lonely because you'll finally realize how much you—"

"Mom!" Yuuri interrupted. "Wolfram has _not_ disappeared. We just lost him in the crowd! And we will see him again okay? I just need to find him, so help me out here."

A huff. "Fine. Have you tried calling him?"

Yuuri rolled his eyes. "If he had a phone with him, I would've done so a long while ago—!"

"He _has_ a phone with him," said his mother crossly. "I lent him mine this morning. I gave him some money too so that he could find his way if he ever gets separated—"

"Why are you telling me this now?" Yuuri howled.

"You didn't ask—"

Without waiting for the rest of his mother's statement, Yuuri punched the end call button and dialed another number.

The phone rang endlessly, eventually going to voice mail. Yuuri dialed again, crossing his fingers that Wolfram would have the sense to figure out which button to push to answer a call. Wait, did his mother even teach Wolf how to operate the phone?

Yuuri hoped so. He waited, tapping his foot impatiently at the sixth ring. And then finally, at the eighth, Wolfram answered.

* * *

Kei had not seen these many people before, particularly not in one of his art exhibits. His assistant had excitedly told him that the place was swamped but Kei dared not believe until he saw it with his own eyes. And now that he was standing there, surrounded by dozens of potential buyers, being stared at by hundreds of admiring eyes, Kei's heart soared with pride.

He was finally going to make it! He was finally going to establish himself as a serious artist – one who will be famous because of his talent and not because of his handsome face…

And then it hit him. The people were all flocking around _him_, not his paintings. He also noticed just then that most of the bodies who filled the art gallery into capacity were females – young, giggling, simpering females of all shapes and sizes, all gazing at him with similar lascivious expressions. Kei's heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach.

_'I told you so_.' His father's voice rang nastily in his ears. '_They like that pretty face of yours, not your work. I told you to give this up.'_

Kei smiled bitterly. Yes, he knew he was attractive; a lot of people had told him so. But he sure as hell did not ask to be venerated because of that! He only wanted to be recognized for his talent…his skills…

_'Skills do not matter,' _the same voice intoned. _'As long as you look good.'_

Feigning a non-existent headache, Kei excused himself from his throng of admirers. There was a chorus of disappointed girlish sighs, but he waved them off, plastering a winning smile onto his face for courtesy's sake. He made his way into the bathroom, intending to lock himself in a cubicle for the whole afternoon until all the infuriating people have gone. Not exactly a grown-up way of dealing with things, but then, who cares? Kei just wanted to shut the world out.

He reached his destination, noting with satisfaction that the bathroom was nearly empty, save for a single boy over by the sink. Kei ignored him, letting himself in the nearest stall, closing the door with a snap. He sat down, exhausted.

And then the expletives that were at the tip of his tongue burst out of his lips. He could just imagine the people out in the gallery, milling around, perhaps looking for him, barely glancing at his paintings…

He had worked on those pieces for nights on end! He hardly ever slept, damn it! Why couldn't they see that at all?

RING!

Kei gave a start, pulling his phone out of his pocket. It must be his assistant, probably wondering where he had run off to. But the phone's screen was blank. Kei realized that the sound was emanating from outside the cubicle.

RING! RING! RING!

Kei tried to shut the sound from his mind, irritated at the ringing phone's owner for ignoring the call.

RING! RING! RING! RING!

That's it. Kei burst out from his stall, raring to lash out at the unfortunate soul who was, intentionally or not, ruining his quiet moment.

"Just answer the damn ph—!"

Kei stopped, blinking at the scene that met his eyes. The boy he had passed by earlier was still standing by the sink, staring at a small rectangular thing on top of the tiled surface – the cellular phone that was making all the noise. The boy was regarding it with hostility, as if it was something alive and dangerous that would attack at the slightest provocation.

Just as Kei was wondering what to make of the situation, the phone stopped ringing. The boy lifted one pale finger to cautiously prod the now-silent device. Kei felt his eyebrows shoot up way above his hairline in bemusement.

"What do you think are you doing?"

Startled, the boy turned to him, green eyes blinking in surprise. Kei stared, and a single word flitted through his mind.

_Beautiful…_

The boy was blond and pale, with striking green eyes that seemed to shimmer slightly, like the gems that they resemble. Obviously a foreigner. American? Perhaps not. European…?

"Er…hello…" Kei said uncertainly, not knowing if the boy could understand him. "…You…Are you…er…"

RING!

The phone rang once more, cutting through the awkwardness in sharp, intermittent bursts. Kei observed the boy's reaction with interest. The latter spared the device with a look of disgust that did nothing to lessen his beauty. The reaction on his face was even strangely…cute.

People often said that he had a striking face, but Kei felt that he was nothing – nothing when compared to this guy…

"Shouldn't you answer that?" Kei asked after a moment. "It might be urgent…"

The boy turned to him, and Kei had to wonder whether the former spoke any Japanese. He was temporarily stymied when the boy answered fluently, "How exactly do I answer that…that thing?"

"Oh…" Kei said, taken aback by his discovery that this foreign-looking boy could speak his native language so effortlessly and by the realization that the same boy did not know how to use a cellular phone.

"How?" the boy repeated impatiently.

"Er…for starters, you have to hold it," Kei replied, feeling odd that he had to explain the use of a very common communication device to somebody who did not appear to belong to a phone-less generation. The boy looked relatively young – eighteen or nineteen perhaps. "And then, you have to press the 'answer' button…"

"Okay…" Not without hesitation, the boy picked up the phone, holding it gingerly with one hand. He stared at the buttons in utter perplexity.

Kei said helpfully, "It's the green one…"

He watched the boy obey his instruction, and after a second, a voice exploded from the device.

"Hello? Hello? Wolf, are you there? Wolfram!"

Wolfram. So that's the boy's name. Most probably European. Russian? German?

"WOLF! ARE YOU THERE?"

"OF COURSE I'M HERE, YOU WIMP!" the boy called Wolfram barked at the phone, holding it at arm's length. "AND YOU BETTER HAVE A VERY GOOD EXPLANATION FOR LEAVING ME BEHIND—!"

"I DID NOT LEAVE YOU BEHIND!" the voice at the other end of the line bellowed indignantly. "YOU DISAPPEARED ON YOUR OWN!"

"I DID NOT!"

"FINE! FINE! Where are you? We'll go get you."

"I'm at the museum. And speak up, wimp. I can't hear you." Wolfram turned to Kei. "Why can't I hear him?"

"What do you mean you can't? Who are you talking to? Who else is there? HELLO—?"

Kei pointed at the phone in the boy's hand. "You have to bring that to your ears."

The boy obeyed. "Okay wimp—" He stopped, frowning. "Oi, wimp! Are you there? Yuuri!"

Kei could already deduce what had happened. The phone's batteries must have been drained already, and true enough, when the boy put down the device, the screen was blank.

"Your batteries must be dead," Kei explained to the bewildered boy. "You'd have to recharge."

"Recharge?" the other repeated. "What do you mean recharge?"

Kei blinked. "Er…renewing the batteries?" The boy still looked lost, so he went on, "With a charger? Plugged into an electrical outlet?"

"I don't understand."

"Wow," Kei breathed, not knowing whether to be angry or amused. "Where are you from exactly?"

The boy's expression suddenly turned cautious. He crossed his arms defensively and muttered, "Not from around here."

"That much is obvious." Kei regarded the boy curiously. "You're lost aren't you?" He received a curt nod and a scowl in response, and he smiled despite himself. "Come on then. Let's find your way back."

* * *

It did not take long for Kei to realize that the strange boy he had decided to assist was a painter too. The revelation came as they descended to the first level on their way out of the museum, passing by some of his own works on display.

Wolfram – who had at least trusted him now with his name – stopped by a painting. It was one of the earliest ones Kei had made – that of a young version of himself standing by a cliff. He had painted that in memory of the day his mother left, as a sort of therapeutic release from all the emotions he had pent-up from that event.

Ironically, it was that painting that got him noticed by some traveling art enthusiasts. The same painting that got him a scholarship to an exclusive art school. The same painting that finally gave him an opportunity to leave his old life behind – to leave his father behind.

"You like that?" Kei asked his companion. "The artist would be happy to at least sell something that someone actually _liked_."

Wolfram glanced at him. "It's a bit crude, but I like the colors. What did you use in here? Back in my – er – country, we use derivatives from bearbe—er—animal excrements to paint—"

Kei could not decide which to react on first. The boy's quick assumption that he made the paintings? The reference to his country, wherever that is? Or the odd mention of animal waste as a paint material?

Finally, he decided to go about it in reverse order. "Er…excrements?"

"It's a special form of paint."

"Okay…" Kei remarked, making a mental note to check on that fact later on. "And where are you from again?"

"From another w—country," answered the boy evasively. "But my fiancé is from here. We were together just a while back, but we got separated."

"Oh," Kei commented, distracted. "You're engaged?"

"You look surprised."

"Because you look too young to be thinking about marriage," he answered honestly.

"I'm not young. I'm eighty—er—eighteen."

Kei smiled. "Eighteen _is_ young."

Wolfram did not answer, and they strode past the remaining paintings in silence. A few steps away, Kei remembered his last question.

"By the way, what made you think that I did that painting?"

Wolfram said simply, "The boy in the painting was you."

"You think so?"

"A man outside said that it was a self-portrait." The boy gestured to the other paintings. "These are all your works." A pause. "They're…interesting."

Kei said wryly, "You can tell me that it's bad. I won't take it against you."

Wolfram smiled. "The man also said that that you're a very good artist, but that you just don't have enough confidence in yourself."

"Hah, I'd like to know who that man is."

"That's him. Behind you."

Kei turned, caught a glimpse of the person Wolfram was referring to, and immediately grabbed his companion's hand and darted for the door.

"What are you doing—?"

"That's Pierre, my assistant," Kei explained hurriedly. "I'd rather not be seen by him right now."

They made their way out of the museum, walking briskly without stopping to avoid bumping into anyone familiar. At long last, when they reached the streets, Kei told his companion, "Sorry about that. Just wanted to…er…"

"Get away," Wolfram supplied in understanding.

"Right. So…er…I guess we need to find your way back to…er…where did you last see your…er…"

"Fiancé," Wolfram said. "We were watching dolphins…"

"Okay, so we're looking for a sort of…amusement park," said Kei. "I think I remember seeing one…over…" He looked around, doing a full circle but failing to recognize any landmarks.

Wolfram watched his reaction, a bit exasperated but also amused. "You don't have any idea where we are, do you?"

"No, I know where we are. It's my first time here but I know my way around. We're—"

"—lost," Wolfram finished.

Kei sighed heavily before finally admitting, "Yep…we're totally lost."

* * *

To be continued

* * *

_A/N: This was intended to be a one-shot, but I can't seem to end it the way I wanted to. I will have to get back to this in order to wrap everything up. In the meantime, I'm going back to my previous preoccupation and finish my other story. :)_

_Edited: 04/06/2011. _


	2. Game 2: Twenty Questions

**Games Demons Play**

**by: gkeeper91**

* * *

Disclaimer: This story is based on the anime show Kyou Kara Maou, which in turn is based from the series of light novels created by Tomo Takabayashi. Only the ideas – and some original characters – contained within this story are the property of the author.

Game: Twenty Questions. This is a guessing game – utilizing questions answerable with a simple "Yes" or "No" – to identify a person or an object in 20 questions or less.

* * *

**Game 2: Twenty Questions **

* * *

Wolfram took one long look at the series of odd infrastructures in front of him and empathically shook his head.

"No. This is not it."

His companion looked at him, slightly red from embarrassment. "Are you sure?" Kei asked. "You said it was an amusement park of some sort…"

"No," Wolfram corrected sternly. "_You_ said that it was probably an amusement park, whatever that was. _I_ said that it was something which had a dolphin enclosure in it."

Kei turned scarlet, steam billowing from his ears. "I'm sorry. I'm not really being helpful, am I?"

Wolfram sighed. He knew that the other boy had completely honorable intentions, but he couldn't help but feel irritated anyway that the person he was banking on to get him back on track only made him more lost than ever. Wolfram couldn't even recognize anything around him anymore. Kei had gotten the both of them into a – what was it called again? – a cab, instructing the driver to take them to the nearest amusement park in the vicinity. And either the driver misunderstood or he also didn't have a good sense of direction, but they ended up in another amusement center which didn't remotely resemble the one Wolfram had just been in with Yuuri and Greta.

Wolfram would have launched into a tirade by now, were it not for the completely dejected look on his companion's face. Kei looked miserable enough even without getting an earful of complaints from him, so Wolfram let him off the hook this time.

"What is this place anyway?" Wolfram decided to ask, more to distract his companion from brooding too much about the fact that they were still lost.

Kei looked relieved at the change of topic but also mystified at the same time. The boy had been giving him a series of appraising glances ever since that scene in the bathroom. So he did not know how to use that weird, ringing device, Wolfram thought. So what? Surely a lot of people in this world did not know too, right? Right?

"You've never been to one like this, have you?" Kei eventually asked, but it sounded more like a confirmation rather than a question.

Wolfram replied evasively, "We don't have places like this back in Sh—er—in my country."

"And you still wouldn't tell me where your country is?"

"I…Does it matter?"

"Because you're being way too mysterious about such a simple thing!" Kei exclaimed. Then his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Unless you're here in Japan illegally?"

"Illegally?" Wolfram echoed. "What's that?"

"Against the law," Kei answered. "Surely you know what that word means? Come on! I'm really starting to think that you're an alien or something."

Wolfram asked despite himself, curiosity getting the best of him, "Er…alien?"

"Not from this world," Kei said.

Wolfram flushed deeply at that, knowing that it was closer to the truth than the other boy probably realized…or suspected. He cleared his throat and looked away, saying instead to divert the matter at hand, "Of course not. Er…why don't we just check this place out?"

The other boy looked confused but effectively distracted. "But I thought you're sure this isn't the place…?"

"Let's just look around, okay?" Wolfram said, striding forward confidently. But then his efforts to diffuse his companion's growing misgivings about his character were rendered futile when, once again, he displayed his ignorance of this world's rules and customs by walking right through the entrance…without paying.

Unsurprisingly, a man who looked like a guard came rushing to apprehend him. Kei gave him a long-suffering look before patiently explaining to the guard that Wolfram was a foreigner, and it was his first time to be in a place like this. Listening to that, Wolfram wished that Kei would somehow downplay his ignorance of such Earth matters. It was humiliating enough as it is.

But Wolfram decided that he had embarrassed himself enough in the past hour so he did not say anything more, instead following his companion to the ticket counter, and then through the entrance of this so-called amusement center.

* * *

Kei echoed his companion's silence, not saying a single word while his mind was busy churning up one theory after another about the latter's baffling identity. He was very intrigued indeed, and all he could think about was how to get Wolfram to talk about himself and his strange country.

Somewhere between the entrance and a concessionaire stand, Kei made up his mind and turned to his companion.

"Do you want to play a game?"

Wolfram looked both surprised and apprehensive. "A game?"

"Yes, a game," said Kei. "You're familiar with 'twenty questions,' aren't you?"

"Er…"

"Or not again," he concluded from the other boy's expression. "Okay, I'll explain while we look around."

They made their way across the park, cutting through a queue of people who were excitedly waiting for their turn on the roller coaster. Wolfram gave the ride a perfunctory glance, but Kei could see the confusion written all over the boy's face. It was as if it was his first time to see a roller coaster at close quarters – or even at all.

"Twenty questions," Kei began, "is actually a guessing game. One person, the answerer – which will be you – will think of something, and the other person, the questioner – which will be me – will try to guess what that is in twenty questions or less. But there's a catch – the questions should be answerable by either a 'yes' or a 'no.'"

Wolfram raised one eyebrow at him. "Oh? Why do I get to be the answerer?"

"Well, we can switch later if you like," Kei answered, deciding that it wouldn't be such a big deal anyway. "But let's make it more fun, shall we? Why don't we make the questioner decide on a topic, and then we take it from there?"

"What do you mean…?"

"For instance," Kei said with a grin, "the topic is…your country."

"Again?" Wolfram grumbled. "Really, why does that matter so much to you?"

Kei ignored the protest and continued, "Is it somewhere in Europe?"

"Where…?" the other boy started to ask, but then he trailed off and gave him an exasperated sigh. "Fine, fine. No."

Kei nodded in approval. Now he was getting somewhere. He pressed on, "Is it in North America?"

"No."

"South America?"

"No."

Four questions later, when he had covered all the continents of the world and the answer he was receiving was still a negative, Kei scratched his head in utter perplexity. Was there a country in the world that did not belong to any of the known continents?

"So you're really not from Earth?" Kei asked, half-joking and half…well…ready to believe anything.

Wolfram glanced at him, then answered hesitantly, "…yes."

Okay, this is getting weird. But Kei decided to still push through with it. "You're from another…world?"

"Y-yes."

"Mars?" Kei asked teasingly.

Wolfram gave him a thoroughly blank look before saying, "No."

Kei counted all the known planets inside his head, computing how many questions it will take to go through all of them. In the end, he decided that it was a waste of time. Extraterrestrial life was a highly debatable subject anyway, and Kei was hardly a believer. He decided to pursue another line of inquiry.

"So…are you human?"

Wolfram stopped to glare at him in disapproval. "That's not a question referring to my country."

"New rule," said Kei. "The questioner gets to ask whatever he wants."

The other boy huffed, but answered just the same, "No."

"No?" Kei repeated.

"No," Wolfram said. "And that counts as a question. You're down to eight more."

Kei began to object, but he saw the glare his companion was directing at him and he relented grudgingly. "Fine. So you're not really human?"

"No," came the response. "And that still counts as another question. Seven more."

Kei mentally berated himself for that mistake. Then he moved on. "Not human huh? So you're really an alien?"

"That means not from this world, right?" Wolfram confirmed. When Kei nodded, the boy said, "Yes, then."

Kei could hardly believe what he was hearing, but he was much too caught up in the mystery of it all to stop and think of a logical explanation for everything. His companion's demeanor and behavior were certainly indicative of something…odd. Something…extraordinary. For a moment, Kei could allow himself to believe that this strange boy was something more than a human. He was just too…exquisite…to be one. Plus, all his actions and reactions so far hinted at a genuine unfamiliarity to the simplest and most ordinary things in this world. That scene at the bathroom with the cellular phone should speak for itself.

"Are you…an angel?" The question just came out without him meaning to, and Kei flushed in embarrassment. That was corny. And lame. Lame and corny.

Wolfram, however, laughed in amusement. "No!" Then he added, "But you're getting there. Five more questions."

Kei blinked. Definitely not human. Not an angel, but also close to one…? "You're not a…a god of some kind are you?"

Wolfram laughed some more. "Of course not."

"A…a spirit?" Kei ventured. "Or a ghost?"

"No, and no," the other boy answered. "You're getting ridiculous. And those count as two separate questions. Two more."

Kei was running out of ideas. "You're saying you're the opposite of an angel…?"

"That's another question," said the boy, sobering down. "And the answer is yes."

The opposite of an angel. A lot of arguments could be made out of that, but Kei knew the simplest answer possible. The only problem was that he could not believe it.

"A demon?" he asked dubiously. "You're a demon?"

Wolfram smiled, and at that very moment, Kei felt like he was staring at the personification of a seraph. The boy's answer though, was completely incongruous to the vision he had just unknowingly made.

"Yes."

Kei's jaw fell open, and all he could do was stare at his strange companion in stupefied silence.

_You have got to be joking._

* * *

Yuuri was sure that he was about to go deaf.

He was with his mother, having asked her earlier if she could meet up with them and take Greta home, while he continued his search for his still-missing fiancé. But of course, Miko would not just let him go without a lengthy lecture about his negligence, coupled with threats that she would never _ever _cook him curry again if something terrible were to happen to Wolfram.

His eardrums nearly exploding from the never-ending spate of criticisms and other nonsensical things that spewed out of his mother's mouth, Yuuri whispered a hasty goodbye to Greta and slowly inched away.

"You should be able to find him," Miko called after him. "How could you not find him? This isn't Tokyo, Yuu-chan!"

Yuuri strode off in a dazed state, too tired to even bother to understand what his mother was yelling about. Miko would perhaps notice in another five minutes or so that Yuuri was no longer in front of her. In the meantime, perhaps he could use that time to continue looking for Wolfram.

From that short phone conversation he'd had with Wolfram a moment back, Yuuri knew that the latter had somehow made his way into a museum. And judging from that voice he'd heard in the background, the boy was not alone. Yuuri could not decide whether to feel more anxious or angry about the situation, having been seesawing precariously between those two emotions during the past hour. On one hand, he knew that he was somehow to blame for losing Wolfram in the crowd. On the other, how could Wolfram _not_ have the sense to find his way back to Water World?

Alone now, Yuuri went to the closest museum in the area – the Museum of Modern Art – and was briefly relieved when he learned from the guard that a blond foreigner had indeed entered the building some minutes earlier. With the prospect of already finding his fiancé, Yuuri's anxiety started to abate, but then it quickly shot back up when he found that the boy was no longer there. Worse, if he were to believe a panicking man he met by the stairs, Wolfram seemed to have left with another man. A painter.

"Kei-san left!" the man lamented to nobody in particular. "I saw him leaving with that blond boy. Oh my! How am I supposed to tell everyone…?" Then the man's gaze locked onto Yuuri's concerned eyes, as if suddenly realizing something. "You…"

"What?" Yuuri asked. He did not have a good feeling about this.

The man suddenly seized him by the shoulders. "You know that blond guy, don't you?"

"Well yes. He's my f—" Yuuri stopped himself just in time and changed track. "—friend. Who's this Kei person?"

The man shoved a colorful pamphlet in his face. "Yoshida Kei-san. This is his exhibit, and I need him back _here_ in the next hour, or he won't get _any_ deal done with—"

"Where would he go?" Yuuri interrupted, not at all interested in the man's dilemma, but rather more alarmed with the emerging fact that Wolfram was with this…this painter. "Can't you think of any place that he'd go to?"

The man shook his head. "This is Kei-san's first time here in Saitama. He wouldn't have anywhere to go except back to the hotel…"

"Which hotel?"

"Er…" The man examined Yuuri hesitantly, as though realizing for the first time that he was talking to a complete stranger. "What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," he answered. "My name is Shibuya Yuuri."

"Mine's Pierre," replied the man, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Yuuri took the hand and said the appropriate rejoinder. Then he reminded the man, "Er…Pierre-san? The hotel?"

"Oh right. The Plaza Hotel." Pierre gave him another calculating look before suggesting, "Would you like to go together?"

Yuuri nodded, grateful for the assistance. And as the two of them clambered into the back of a cab, Yuuri wished that they would finally catch up with Wolfram at the end of their short, unplanned trip.

He was about to be disappointed. Again.

* * *

"You have got to be joking."

Wolfram shrugged and opted not to say anymore. His companion, however, was not about to drop the matter.

"You _can't_ be a demon."

Wolfram did not know whether to be amused or offended by the other boy's insistence. "Why not?"

"Because…you're too…beautiful."

"That's not a good enough reason," Wolfram scoffed, not at all satisfied with the other boy basing all his assumptions about his identity on his physical appearance.

"I can go more for the alien theory," Kei said, staring at him from head to toe. "You do look a little…exotic…"

Exotic? Wolfram snorted at the word. "A lot of people in the oth—er—in my country look like me. I'm not really that different…"

"And you _still_ won't tell me where that is?" the other boy asked, sighing glumly.

"No," said Wolfram firmly. "Besides, you lost the game."

Kei's face fell at the reminder, and he asked with a hopeful look, "How about another shot?" Then before Wolfram could answer, he continued, "The topic now is…your identity. Are you a student?"

"Hey, why do you always get to ask the questions?" Wolfram complained. "Shouldn't it be my turn…?"

"Oh come on," said his companion. "You're life is bound to be more interesting than mine. So…are you a student?"

Wolfram would have protested some more, but he saw the glint of determination in the other boy's eyes and he gave up. "Fine. But this is the last time okay? No more games after this." He waited for the boy to nod before answering the question, "No."

"Hmm…you look a bit too young to be working. Are you rich?"

"…Yes, I guess. At least my family is."

"So you're…just on vacation here?"

"Yes. You could say that."

Tired of walking around, Wolfram spied a nearby bench and sat down to take a much-needed rest. His companion took a short break from his interrogation to buy them both something to eat and drink. Wolfram accepted the food with a mixture of bewilderment and gratitude. He didn't know what he was eating – it was some type of Earth sandwich – but it did taste good.

"So," Kei continued, taking a seat beside him, "are you part of a royal family or something?"

Wolfram choked on his sandwich. "_What_?"

Kei regarded him with a triumphant smile. "Hah! You are, aren't you?" He added hastily, "And that's just a follow-up question so it shouldn't count."

Wolfram swallowed hard. "Yes and no…"

The other boy pounced on his response like a parched person seizing upon an unexpected drop of water. "You mean you were, and then you weren't?"

Wolfram nodded. Well, that _was_ the truth. He had been a prince when his mother was crowned the Maou. He was deprived of that status when Yuuri came, and from there, his designation was demoted from "His Majesty" to "His Excellency." Wolfram expected to rise through the monarchial hierarchy once again the moment that he and Yuuri are married, but with the wimp's lack of feelings for him…well…he guessed he would stay in his current position forever…

Wolfram stopped in confusion, alarmed at the turn his thoughts had taken. Was being engaged to – and eventually marrying – Yuuri just a matter of rank and status for him? Was their engagement merely an issue of ambition? Wolfram had to admit that his initial feelings were somehow self-serving, but he knew that those had since developed into something much deeper. Love.

"Were you a prince?" Kei's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. The boy was regarding him with unrestrained fascination.

"Yes," Wolfram answered softly.

"Are you on exile? Is that why you can't tell me where you're really from?" Then before Wolfram could answer, Kei continued pensively, "You belong to the royal family of a small country, you fell in love with a commoner, you were disowned because of this, you eloped to Japan together, and now you're about to get married. Is that it?"

Wolfram took a moment to process the volley of questions hurled at him by the other boy. In the end, he couldn't help but burst into laughter at his companion's preposterous assumptions. "What? No! No! No!"

Kei laughed too. "Well, I guess that sounded silly. I just thought…well…because you said earlier that you were engaged…"

"That's quite a tale, but no…" Wolfram smiled. "My life is much more mundane than that."

"I doubt it," said Kei. "Being a prince _can't_ be mundane." He took a swig from the can in his hand then asked, "So, your fiancée is Japanese?"

"Yes," Wolfram answered, smiling.

"But you did not elope?"

"No. We're here on a vacation. With our daughter."

Kei's eyes bulged with incredulity. "Daughter?"

"She's adopted," Wolfram explained.

"Wow…you guys _adopted_? Isn't that too…you know…_soon_ to be starting a family?"

"No," he said coldly, frowning. "I don't think so."

Kei stared at him, perhaps realizing that that casual comment had offended him slightly. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't—"

"Forget it," said Wolfram dismissively.

The boy sighed. "I'm not getting anywhere, am I?"

"No," Wolfram agreed. Then he smirked. "And that's counted as a question. You have—" He paused to compute the number inside his head. "—seven remaining shots."

Kei laughed. "I think I'll save them for later." He stood up. "You want to keep looking?"

Wolfram nodded. "Try not to get us lost again, okay?"

"I'll try my best," answered Kei in a mock-formal tone, then added a teasing, "Your Excellency."

Wolfram merely shook his head and smiled.

* * *

Plaza Hotel turned out to be another dead-end.

The disappointing news came from Pierre, who just returned from the counter to inform Yuuri that, contrary to their expectations, there was no trace of Kei in the hotel. Which means that he is still out there somewhere. With Wolfram.

Yuuri sighed, slightly consoled by the fact that this was Earth, so he need not worry about Wolfram being alone for too long with another guy. He was more concerned with this Kei person's character, but as Pierre harped on and on about the latter's talent and kindness and other sickeningly superior qualities, Yuuri guessed that his fiancé was at least in good, capable hands.

"And you still couldn't reach him?" Yuuri asked after a beat.

Pierre nodded sorrowfully. "He must have turned his phone off."

"You couldn't think of any place he'd go?" Yuuri pressed. "Anywhere at all?"

"No…I'm truly sorry…" The man turned to the doors and groaned. "Great. Now it's raining…"

Yuuri turned too, seeing that the rain was indeed starting to fall hard, the weather reminiscent of that storm they just had yesterday. He watched the raindrops for a moment, an idea starting to form inside his head. Water was his element after all. If Wolfram was currently out in the open, and if he happened to be in contact with any form of water such as this rain…perhaps…

"Shibuya-san?"

Pierre was giving him a curious look, wondering perhaps why he was suddenly staring vacantly into space. Yuuri had no time to explain. He rushed off into the rain, yelling an apology and a short thank you for the man's help.

Outside, Yuuri stopped in an alley and squeezed his eyes shut. Unlike most Mazoku, he had always been able to use his maryoku even within human territories, this world included. He concentrated on a mental image of Wolfram's face and very carefully summoned his maryoku.

The water around him swirled, and in the next instant, his entire body pulsated with blue light. Portals were a little tricky, but having three years worth of experience in travelling between dimensions, Yuuri felt confident enough about the degree of control he had over his powers.

Yuuri waited until he could almost feel Wolfram's presence…until he could almost hear his voice…

And then reaching out without hesitation, Yuuri pulled—

* * *

Kei glanced at his companion again and asked, "So in short, you are a demon ex-prince?"

"Is this part of the game?" Wolfram asked. When Kei nodded, he responded, "Yes. Six more questions."

"And you came from where?" Kei asked, then quickly rephrased it into a yes-or-no question, "You came from…hell?"

Wolfram rolled his eyes. "No. We have a kingdom."

"Thank god." Kei chuckled, amused at his own absorption over this issue. "And do demons have special powers?"

"Yes."

"What sort?" Kei asked excitedly, forgetting the question format. Then he reined himself in and restated his query, "Do you have control over…something?"

"Yes," said Wolfram, his mouth twitching into a smile. "Three more questions. You better ask wisely."

Kei swore under his breath. Then he paused long enough to think. Demons, demons, demons…What are they famous for? His stock knowledge and imagination only conjured up a series of gory images of winged monsters and fanged gigantic beasts, so he stopped. In the end, Kei asked tentatively, "Fire?"

His companion looked pleased at the question, and he nodded approvingly. "Yes. In my case, fire."

"Wow," Kei remarked in wonder. Although he still wasn't sure if he believed any of this, the boy's answers were painting a vivid picture inside his head – of angels and fire, and mysterious far-off kingdoms and worlds beyond the human imagination. Suddenly, he regretted that he did not bring any sketching materials with him. Then his brows furrowed as the other boy's answer registered completely. "Wait, in _your_ case? You mean, there are others like you?"

Wolfram gave him a long, searching look before answering, "Yes." He stopped to face Kei. "Last question."

Kei thought that he should think very carefully about what he was about to ask, but in the spur of the moment, he blurted out, "You're real, aren't you? I'm not just dreaming this, am I?"

His questions were punctuated by the pitter patter of water against the cemented pavement, as an unexpected bout of rain began to pour. Despite the fact that they were both getting soaked with rainwater, neither moved from their spots.

Wolfram answered so quietly that Kei almost did not hear him. "Yes."

Kei frowned, not at all sure which particular question the boy had intended to answer. Yes, he's real? Or yes, Kei is dreaming? But Kei never got the chance to clarify for at that precise second, the other boy started to…shine.

Kei closed his eyes for a moment, sure that he must be seeing things. But no, the blue light that enveloped his companion's body shone brighter when he opened his eyes.

"Wolfram!" he called out in panic, rushing forward to grasp the boy's hand. But a confused second later, the spot Wolfram had been standing on was empty. Kei looked around in confusion but there was no trace of the blond boy anywhere. What in the world happened?

Kei didn't know anymore, and right then, he started to wonder…

Had everything really happened? Had he really been talking to a boy who looked like an angel, but declared himself to be a demon prince…? Had the said boy just vanished before his eyes…?

Kei looked up at the darkening sky, finding that he did not know anymore.

* * *

Wolfram felt a jerk and a burst of familiar maryoku enveloping his entire body, and he just knew that it was Yuuri's doing. He was right, for in the next instant, he was in a dark, wet alley, sitting astride a drenched, black-haired someone.

"Yuuri…?" he gasped, still taken aback despite the fact that he expected to see the boy all along.

Yuuri's face vacillated for a moment between relief and anger. The first soon prevailed over the latter and the boy grinned widely and threw his arms around him. "Wolf!"

Wolfram's pleasure at the boy's reaction quickly turned into embarrassment as he finally became conscious of their positions. He was straddling Yuuri, who in turn, was flat on his back against the cold concrete. The boy was still clinging onto him, seemingly with no intention of letting go – that is, until Wolfram cleared his throat loudly.

Yuuri released him with an equally self-conscious laugh, but there was a sort of reluctance in that action, as if he didn't want to let go just yet…or was Wolfram just imagining it…? The boy also looked quite mortified at their current position, but he looked neither uncomfortable nor disgusted at the physical contact.

"I was worried," Yuuri admitted, as Wolfram scrambled off him. "I've been looking for you for the last hours…"

A shadow of the irritation Wolfram felt earlier flitted across his face, but it was quickly forgotten when Yuuri stood up too and returned his arms around Wolfram's shoulders.

Wolfram was puzzled, but he welcomed the gesture, hoping that it meant more, that it was not just the action of a concerned friend but also that of a fretful lover. He shook his head right after, knowing that such hopes were highly improbable. This was Yuuri after all…

"I was lost," Wolfram explained needlessly, as that much was obvious. "This guy was trying to help me find my way back, but he—"

"I lied to you," Yuuri interrupted, looking like he was not listening to a single word Wolfram had just said.

"Wha—?"

"I lied," Yuuri continued. "When you asked me before if I have ever lied to you…"

Wolfram's teeth were starting to chatter from the cold water, and he snapped impatiently, "What's this all of a sudden, wimp?"

"I wanted to tell you the truth," said the other boy. "I…"

"Can we get out of this rain first?" Wolfram demanded, more to deflect a potential mortifying scenario rather than actual discomfort at his drenched state. His hopes were rising steadily that he would finally hear the words he had been hoping for all these years, but at the same time, he felt he would not be able to bear the disappointment should Yuuri say something else other than—

"I think I'm in love with you."

The entire world seemed to stop. Wolfram stared at the other boy wordlessly, still unsure whether he had heard right. But Yuuri repeated the words for good measure, and while Wolfram was much too surprised to say anything in return, he felt all the frustrations, disappointments, and hurts of the past three years, vanish into the air.

In the end, Wolfram managed to smile and nod in acknowledgment. Suddenly – in spite of the rain and the feel of the freezing wind against his face – he felt warm all over.

As though everything was going to be okay from then on.

* * *

It was some days later, when he finally recovered enough from his puzzling encounter with that boy named Wolfram that Kei started painting again. He began with several sketches of the boy's face, throwing each one aside in discontent, feeling that he was always missing something.

Then as he sat down to lunch with his hyperactive assistant, Kei realized what was lacking. He hardly even listened to Pierre's babbles about his own struggles when Kei disappeared from the museum some days earlier. He did not even register the man's story about a local boy who accompanied him in his search. Everything just passed without meaning through Kei's ears, his mind filled with a certain blond boy's smiling face.

He started with another rough sketch, nodding in satisfaction when he was finished, as a replica of Wolfram's face – with that expression he'd worn when he'd spoken about his unnamed fiancée and their adopted daughter – looked back at him from the canvas.

"Wow," said Pierre, coming to stand behind him. "Hey, isn't that that guy you ran off with the other day?"

Kei nodded absently, already adding more details to the sketch, fueled by an inexplicable need to put all his memories and impressions on paper. For the most part, he feared that the boy's face would trickle completely from his memory, like some half-forgotten dream, and part of his efforts were to ensure that that details of that day would never fade away.

He started adding colors and shades, hardly aware of the phone ringing somewhere behind him, of Pierre picking it up and chatting rather noisily to somebody on the other line.

"Kei-san! You won't believe who just called—" Pierre's excited chatter faded into the background as Kei became more engrossed with what he was doing. He did get the gist of his assistant's story. Some big shot businessman with international connections was interested in Kei's paintings. In fact, the said big-shot had just invited him to his mansion in—

"Switzerland!" Pierre exclaimed. "This is a huge break, Kei-san!"

Kei nodded again, mumbling a resigned "yes" as his assistant started packing and making flight reservations over the phone. For his part, Kei worked late into the night, only stopping for short bathroom breaks before frantically resuming his activity.

He finished at sunrise the next day, a certain calmness setting in as he surveyed his work. He smiled in satisfaction, standing back to appreciate it fully. He could hear Pierre calling out to him from the kitchen, begging him to _please, please, please_ prepare himself for their departure already. And he should not take _too_ long because a representative from the big-shot businessman's office was currently waiting in the lobby. Kei shouted a response, and as he started throwing all his belongings into his traveling bag, he found himself stealing a look at the painting every now and then.

Kei smiled again, as – from the wide expanse of the canvas – Wolfram seemed to smile back at him.

* * *

"Mom, we're leaving!"

Yuuri half-hoped that his mother wouldn't hear that at all, but as usual, she still came, bearing a mountain of plastic-wrapped knick knacks that she wanted them to bring to the other world.

"Mom…" Yuuri whined, sizing up the bulk of souvenirs that they needed to take with them. "Do we have to take all of these?"

His mother glared at him. "Of course! And you don't get to complain about anything after what you've done to Wolf-chan!"

Wolfram came to his defense. "It's not really Yuuri's fault—"

"Of course it is!" Miko insisted. But Yuuri didn't really care anymore that his mother still blamed him for that entire losing-Wolfram-in-the-crowd debacle. The fact that Wolfram said something to defend him was oddly mollifying in its own right.

Yuuri smiled at his fiancé, getting a blush and a tentative smile in return. He would have thought that his confession back in that alley would change everything between them, but to Yuuri's slight disappointment, Wolfram still treated him in the same way as before. Yes, there were moments that the boy would act affectionately towards him, but those instances would end quickly the minute that Yuuri tries to reciprocate.

But in all fairness, Wolfram must be confused at this sudden change. Before they came to Earth for this brief trip, they were two individuals who were set to be married purely by accident. It was hard to make the transition from that to individuals who were now engaged by choice.

Yuuri knew that he did love Wolfram, but now he was starting to realize how difficult it was to actually express it. Confessing about it was one thing, but showing it in his actions and words were another thing entirely. For one, he didn't know exactly what Wolfram expected from him. He supposed that they could start with the basics and hold hands or whatever it was that couples do, but the minute that he initiates something, Wolfram would always turn bright red, mumble something incomprehensible, and walk away.

But they _were_ engaged, and now that Yuuri had declared his true feelings for the boy, these things _should_ be normal. Yuuri sighed, knowing that he shouldn't have expected things to advance that quickly. Given their unremarkable history as an engaged couple, the fact that one of them had professed their love for the other should be enough for the meantime …

One of them…

Yuuri paused, frowning. It suddenly occurred to him that he had not heard Wolfram say anything in response to his confession. Granted that he knew that Wolfram felt the same way for him, Yuuri realized that he had never heard the boy say something about his own feelings aloud.

"What is it?"

Wolfram was looking at him questioningly, and Yuuri debated for a moment whether he ought to express his concern. Making up his mind, he said, "You never answered me."

"What?"

"When I…you know…told you?" Yuuri said, then expounded when the other boy still looked mystified, "Back at the alley?"

Comprehension lit Wolfram's eyes, and he answered, "You did not ask me anything."

"I just said that I…I love you," Yuuri said, muttering the last words under his breath. "Shouldn't you have a…you know…response?"

"You said you _think_ you're in love with me," corrected Wolfram, turning red again. "Last time I checked, that wasn't a question."

"So you want me to ask?" Yuuri clarified in confusion.

"No…I…"

"You want me to say something else?"

"No," Wolfram muttered. "I just…"

"Were you even happy that I told you that?"

"Yes, I was but…"

"But what?" Yuuri pushed. "You're not having second thoughts about this are you? About us?"

"No! I was just—"

"You're still mad about what happened that day?" Yuuri guessed. "Did something happen that you're not telling me about? Did that guy do something—?"

"No, no, no!" Wolfram cried. "What the hell is this? Twenty questions?"

Yuuri was momentarily interested at that reference to an Earth game, but he waved it off. "I'm just worried. You…you've been avoiding me these past days…"

"I haven't," Wolfram declared. "I was just…just…confused."

"Confused about what?" said Yuuri. "What is so confusing about what I said?"

"It's confusing that I don't know what to do with the fact that you _think_ you're in love with me!" cried Wolfram in return. "I mean, what happens now? You haven't even kissed me or anything—"

Silence. Then—

"You…you wanted me to…?"

"No!" Wolfram immediately denied. Then seeing the offended look on Yuuri's face, he subsided and said, "I mean, yes…eventually…"

"Eventually…?"

Wolfram nodded. "Eventually. I mean…aren't things going way too fast? A few days before, you weren't in love with me, and now suddenly you claim that you are…"

"I have always been…in love with you," Yuuri said earnestly. "A few days before – and even before that – I knew deep down that I was. I just had the courage to tell you now. I'm sorry."

Wolfram looked at him for a long moment before saying, "I…I see…"

"I don't mind taking things slow," Yuuri said after another pause, "if that's what you want?"

Wolfram nodded shyly, opening his mouth to say something. But a loud cry stopped the boy from commenting and alerted the two of them that somebody had been listening to their conversation that entire time. Greta and Miko were both staring at them with burning concentration.

Miko's eyes were sparkling like fires lit from within. "That was _sooooo_ cute!" she gushed, drawing both Wolfram and Yuuri into an embrace which would probably rival the one they had so often received from Lady Cheri.

"Mom…!" Yuuri started to protest, but Miko squeezed him tighter, indicating that all his transgressions were forgiven.

"Let them breathe, Mom," said a voice, saving Wolfram and Yuuri from total suffocation. Shori entered the bathroom.

"Sho-chan!" said Miko. "You're just in time for the good news! Yuu-chan has just—!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Shori, refusing to hear more. To Yuuri, he asked, "You're all leaving?"

"Yes," Yuuri answered, not knowing whether to feel relieved or affronted by his big brother's lack of interest in his love life.

"Good timing. I'll borrow your room then, okay?" his brother said. "Just for a day or two. For a visitor."

"Visitor?" Miko shrieked. "You brought back a visitor?"

With his mother's attention sidetracked to something else, Yuuri took the opportunity to say his goodbyes, taking Wolfram's and Greta's hands in the process, bracing himself for their subsequent immersion in the water.

His brother and his mother did not seem to notice their departure, still bickering about the unexpected visitor that Shori had just brought home. The sounds of their voices echoed in the background as Yuuri, Wolfram, and Greta sank down to the portal.

"—I thought you were supposed to be on your way to Bob's by now?" Miko was asking.

"The flight was cancelled," replied Shori. "With this weather, no plane is setting off for Switzerland tonight – or anywhere for that matter. And since his hotel reservation was also cancelled, he doesn't have anywhere to go to for tonight…"

"And? Who is this visitor?"

"Bob's VIP guest. A painter…"

"A painter?" repeated Miko excitedly. "Why didn't you say so earlier? I've always wanted to meet one!"

"Be nice okay? It's his first time in Saitama. We wouldn't want him to think that all people here are weirdoes like you…"

"What's that supposed to mean, Sho-chan?"

"You know what I mean. Yoshida-san is an important guest okay?"

"Yoshida?"

"Yes. His name is Yoshida Kei…"

"Oh, I can't wait to meet him…"

* * *

The End?

* * *

_A/N: Okay, this story was initially intended to contain a series of one-shots, thus the description – "random moments from Yuuri and Wolfram's life." But I can't seem to stop right here, as I originally intended to (Seriously, what is wrong with me?). Anyway, I don't have any plans for this story, so I'm just going with whatever game seems interesting at the moment. _

_By the way, thanks to everyone who reviewed the past chapter! There was a comment there about the lack of stories featuring Wolfram competing against a third party for Yuuri's affection – as opposed to the one described here, where Yuuri competes against a third party for Wolfram's attention. Well I guess most stories are like this because the anime series is already rife with scenarios involving Wolfram vying for Yuuri's affection against tons of different people – Saralegui, Conrad, Gwendal, Saralegui, Ulrike, Leila, and did I mention Saralegui? :)_

_Anyway, this part is dedicated to gela-anime-14 for insisting that I continue this story. Thank you so much! _

_Edited: 04/06/2011_


	3. Game 3: Sardines

**Games Demons Play**

**by: gkeeper91**

* * *

Disclaimer: This story is based on the anime show Kyou Kara Maou, which in turn is based from the series of light novels created by Tomo Takabayashi. Only the ideas and the original characters contained within this story are the property of the author.

Game: Sardines is a variation of hide and seek, where one person hides from the rest, leaving all the other players to look for him/her. Players who find the person hiding will have to join him/her, even if they get packed all together in a single cramped space – like sardines :). The last player who gets to the hiding place loses.

Special thanks are due to Aella Antiope for helping me through a disastrous bout of mental block, and for all the input/corrections/suggestions that dramatically improved this story. Thanks for beta-reading! :)

* * *

**Game 3: Sardines**

* * *

The moment they got out of the water, Yuuri immediately felt lightheaded. He shook off the feeling though, attributing it to their very brief submersion in water, as all three of them – him, Wolfram, and Greta – journeyed from Earth and back to Blood Pledge Castle. But as he stepped out of the pool that they had materialized in, he felt himself slipping—

"Yuuri!"

He heard Wolfram's voice as though it were emanating from somewhere far away. Yuuri blinked, finding his vision obscured completely by a portion of Wolfram's sweater. He must have lost his balance, and Wolfram must have caught him right before he fell.

"Yuuri?" Wolfram sounded alarmed now, his grip tightening on Yuuri's shoulders. Yuuri tried to respond to reassure the boy, but for some reason, his throat felt prickly…parched…It did not help that the ground appeared to be moving, the pavement seeming to sway slightly beneath his feet.

"Hey, wimp…"

"I'm fine," Yuuri finally managed to say, although his voice sounded a bit off to his ears. He sneezed and immediately after, he felt a wet hand against his forehead.

Then Wolfram said, "You're feverish. How in Shinou's name did you manage to get sick all of a sudden?"

Yuuri suddenly felt defensive and he looked up to scowl at his fiancé. "It was your fault. I had to go running in the rain just to find you."

Wolfram frowned at him. "You didn't have to do that."

"I shouldn't have gone looking for you?" he asked, brushing a strand of wet hair out of his eyes. He was freezing, the cold starting to seep into his bones.

"You shouldn't have gotten sick just because of me."

"It's just a slight fever, Wolfram," Yuuri said, torn between exasperation and amusement. "Don't make such a big deal out of it."

"I'm not, but everyone's going to once they find out that you're running a fever, and I'm going to get blamed for not guarding you well enough—"

"Hey!" Yuuri complained, offended at the suggestion that he wasn't capable of taking care of himself, annoyed at the idea that Wolfram was only worried about what others might say about his capacity as Yuuri's self-proclaimed protector. "I don't need you to look after me!"

A shadow came over Wolfram's face. He retrieved his hands from Yuuri's shoulders and took a step back. "I know that. You don't need to rub it in."

"What?" Yuuri bit out, becoming increasingly irritated. His head was thrumming unpleasantly, as though a hundred bees were swarming inside, all trying to force their way out of his skull. At the moment, all he wanted to do was get into dry clothes, hop into his bed, and sleep.

"You don't need me," said Wolfram with a sudden sour note in his voice, "but you need Conrad and Gunter and everyone else."

"What?" Yuuri repeated. If he were feeling better, he would have caught a whiff of the other boy's jealousy and would have immediately understood the sudden shift in the latter's mood. But all he could feel right then was annoyance at Wolfram's ridiculous ranting. "What are you talking about?"

Wolfram crossed his arms. "You know what I mean. You don't need me. You just said so yourself."

Yuuri groaned. "That's not what I meant! Come on! You're being irrational!"

Wolfram was about to hurl a response at him, but he was cut off by Conrad and Gunter's arrival on the scene. The two men paused for a second to take in the sight in front of them before running hastily to Yuuri's side.

"What's going on here?" Conrad asked, examining Yuuri's face. "Are you feeling well, Heika?"

"You look pale, Heika," Gunter put in, wasting no time to hover around his king. "Are you hurt—?"

"Yuuri's sick," Greta piped up. Yuuri glanced at his daughter in confusion; he had forgotten for a moment that she was there with them.

"I shall summon Gisela," Gunter said promptly, while Conrad placed a supporting hand on Yuuri's elbow, ready to catch him should he fall.

Wolfram shook his head and gave Yuuri a look that plainly said 'I told you so'.

Yuuri opened his mouth to say that calling for Gisela was unnecessary, but knowing Gunter, he knew it was a lost cause. The man would summon a healer despite Yuuri's protests, so he decided to keep quiet and allow Conrad to steer him out of the…the…

_Where_ did they turn up this time? Yuuri couldn't remember. He coughed, and almost instantly, he felt dizzy. He tottered on the spot and would have fallen face first if Conrad hadn't been supporting his weight.

"Yuuri!"

Somebody else cried his name, but it was Wolfram's voice that registered in his ears. Yuuri didn't know if it was because Wolf yelled the loudest, or because he was paying more attention to the boy than he was with the others. He couldn't tell.

Yuuri attempted to regain his balance, but as soon as he straightened up, he felt more lightheaded than ever. Someone placed a hand under his chin, lifting his face up, but Yuuri couldn't see anything clearly. A blackness was edging steadily across his vision, and although he tried to fight it, he couldn't find enough strength to continue resisting.

A second later, he collapsed, surrendering into the tempting grip of unconsciousness.

* * *

Kei listened to the incessant pattering of the rain against the window and once again wondered how he had gotten himself into this situation. This was certainly not what he expected when he first set foot in the Shibuya household. Though he was thankful to Shori-san's family for giving him shelter in the midst of this storm, Kei privately thought that he would rather be outside than push through with what he was currently doing.

Or – to be more exact – _attempting _to do.

Kei placed his pencil down with a defeated sigh. He had finished the sketch of the head, although he deliberately went as slowly as he could in an attempt to delay everything from progressing too quickly. But unfortunately for him, there was nothing more to do but draw the remaining parts of his model's body and complete the picture. Even if it was a picture that he wasn't entirely used to doing. Even if it was something that he'd rather not finish.

But Miko-san – his hostess – had been so incredibly adamant about doing this that Kei had been unable to refuse her. Not even Kei's self-conscious admission that he was terrible at nude paintings could dampen her desire to have her body – to use the term she had used – "immortalized on canvas."

Kei could tell that Miko-san had been waiting for this opportunity the entire time. It wasn't hard to work out that she had this in mind the minute that Kei was introduced to her as a painter. The gleam in her eyes upon their very first meeting had been an ominous sign.

Now Kei found himself in quite an uncomfortable predicament. Because the storm still hadn't let up for the past day, his stay in the Shibuya household was inadvertently extended for an indefinite period. And because Shoma-san and his son, Shori, were out for goodness-knows-what-errand-they-could-possibly-have-in-the-middle-of-a-tropical-storm, Kei was left alone with the (in his opinion) worst possible person to be stuck with at the height of a storm:

A middle-aged housewife who wanted to be painted in her birthday suit.

"Kei-chan, should I take the rest of my clothes off?"

_'How could she say that so casually?'_ Kei thought, wincing. He didn't have any particular problem with the naked human form. He just didn't like being forced to draw anything against his will. Especially by some…woman.

Kei could never understand women; he never did. Women were a strange race to him, falling into the same category as the mother who had abandoned him. Perhaps it was from some residual resentment with certain unfortunate events in his past, that Kei had never put much effort in deciphering what women wanted or needed. He had never seen much sense in trying.

"Kei-chan~" Miko-san called again in a sing-song voice, repeating her earlier question. Her hand was toying with the sash of her bathrobe, ready to pull the loosely-tied knot and – well – bare all.

Kei groaned internally, sure that he didn't want to continue. '_Please, oh please,' _he thought, beseeching all the gods for something that would put an end to his suffering. Miko-san was a beautiful woman, quite so for her age, but…well, Kei just wasn't happy with this.

To his relief, his prayer was answered. Before he could respond, the door opened and admitted a dripping-wet Shori. The man was trying to fit in a large rectangular parcel through the door and was having very little success with it. Shori stopped in mid-heave and finally noticed his barely-clothed mother sprawled on the sofa, and Kei behind the propped canvas, one hand frozen in mid-air.

Kei could almost see the cogs turning behind the thick rim of Shori's glasses. Denial came first, but underneath that was a small flicker of comprehension. "Mom…what…?"

"It's Mama, Sho-chan," Miko said cheerfully, and Kei had to admire her flippant attitude towards the situation. It seemed like nothing in the world could make her the least bit self-conscious.

In contrast, Shori was beyond horrified. A vein popped out somewhere on the man's forehead and before Kei realized what was happening, Shori began shouting at his mother at the top of his lungs.

"Mom!" Shori growled in frustration. "What did I tell you about doing weird things around Yoshida-san?"

"I'm not doing anything weird," said Miko-san, seemingly puzzled at his son's reaction. "I merely asked Kei-chan to paint me—"

"—_naked_!" Shori cut off angrily. "Come on!"

"And what is wrong with that exactly?"

Kei had borne witness to such types of confrontations before, so he lost interest in the fight before him after a while. Both mother and son would go at it for at least an hour more before eventually running out of steam. Miko-san would play the mother card; Shori-san would rebut with logic. But always, in the end, both would forget everything and find something else to do. Kei had learned to expect as much.

It was just another regular rainy day in the Shibuya household.

Kei slowly inched his way outside, closed the door softly, and sighed in resignation.

He needed to get out of this madhouse.

* * *

"Who gets a cold in the middle of summer?" Wolfram asked rhetorically. "Seriously, wimp."

After an hour of convincing everyone that he was feeling better, the others had finally left to give him time to rest. (Gunter had to be kicked out of the room, and Yuuri had Wolfram to thank for that.) Wolfram stayed behind of course, although he was proving to be very bad company at the moment.

"I'm not…a…wimp…" That response was ingrained so deeply in his subconscious that the words came out automatically. Yuuri tried to see past the large, pink, bear-shaped contraption – Anissina's Control-A-Person's-Body-Temperature-kun – that the inventor had strapped to his head, but found that he couldn't. He groaned in misery.

Gisela was away, so they had to turn to the castle's resident mad scientist for a possible cure to his escalating fever. Gunter and Wolfram had argued at great length about allowing Anissina to treat him, and with good reason. Everyone knew that dabbling with the inventor's creations was like flirting with death, but someone – Yuuri couldn't remember who – decided that Anissina was their best shot at treating their beloved king's symptoms before everything got worse.

_It was just a fever_, Yuuri privately fumed. The way everybody's been acting for the past hour, he could as well have cancer or any other life-threatening disease. Not that Yuuri minded all the displays of concern, but the different ways they were shown began to get on his nerves after some time.

Conrad was calm as always, taking a spot in the background as everyone else puttered about the bed. Once in a while, Conrad would meet Yuuri's eyes and return Yuuri's pleading gaze with a noncommittal smile. It was clear that his godfather found the entire situation entertaining.

Gunter was at the other end of the spectrum. The man was in full panic mode, giving everyone the erroneous impression that he was currently attending a dying man's bedside. Yuuri would have loved to send him away, but he didn't have the nerve to ask the man to leave. It was Wolfram who eventually forced Gunter out of the room. Yuuri thought that it must be the man's suggestion to help Yuuri out of his clothes that made his fiancé react that way.

And then there was Wolfram. Yuuri was fast realizing that the boy had the worst bedside manner among everybody in the castle – the whole kingdom even. Wolfram just stood in a corner, regarding everything with undisguised irritation, keeping up a stream of comments about how absurd it was that Yuuri got sick. Yuuri felt a little disheartened at his fiancé's reactions. He expected a little more display of affection from Wolfram in this type of situation.

"Hey, are you still alive, wimp?" came Wolfram's voice again. He sounded annoyed.

Yuuri shifted on the spot and tried not to feel so disappointed. Of course he had never been in a relationship before, and there was a slim chance that he was expecting all the wrong things but…wasn't one supposed to feel at least a wee bit anxious when one's fiancé was sick?

"Hey, Yuuri?" From the corner of his eyes, Yuuri could just see Wolfram seated on the chaise nearby, already clad in his military uniform. The boy was fiddling with his boots, looking so concerned about getting his appearance right more than anything else. He took his eyes off his footwear just long enough to give Yuuri an impatient glance.

Maybe he expected a little bit too much, Yuuri mused. He had only imagined being with a girl, and Wolfram was most definitely _not _one and therefore _not_ at all inclined to be as demonstrative as the members of the fairer sex. Maybe he should take _that_ into consideration. But still, Yuuri thought, a little compassion would be nice…

"It's rude not to answer, wimp," Wolfram said, a frown in his voice. Yuuri heard the thump of the boy's boots against the pavement as the latter moved to stand beside the headboard. "Wimp?" Wolfram waved one hand inches away from Yuuri's face and repeated in a louder voice, "Wimp—!"

Without even meaning to, Yuuri swatted the hand away and blurted out, "I'm not a wimp! Stop calling me that!"

Silence. Wolfram seemed to reel back with surprise, but he quickly caught himself. He narrowed his eyes at Yuuri. "What—?"

Yuuri sat up, taking that ridiculous device off his head, ignoring the pain that followed. "Can you just stop, please?"

"What? What are you doin—?"

"I don't need this," Yuuri replied brashly. "I'm fine now, so could you just stop taunting me?"

Wolfram looked confused. "But I'm not—"

"Yes you are!" Yuuri exclaimed, all his frustrations boiling over. "Okay, I'm not as strong as you are. I get sick easily. You've made your point, so stop flinging that into my face!"

"I'm not!" Wolfram replied. "What made you think—?"

"Because you keep calling me names!"

"I call you a wimp all the time! Why is this any different?"

Fair question. Yuuri subsided a bit. "Because I'm sick."

Wolfram's eyebrow arched up. "And?"

Yuuri deflated, recognizing how whiny he must have sounded. He tried his best to explain. "When my dad gets sick – or any of us actually – my mom would always do something special, you know? She'd always treat us more…warmly. More…tenderly. I…I was kinda expecting…well…" He slumped back to the bed with an unhappy sigh, avoiding Wolfram's eyes. "Ah, just forget it."

But he had said enough to make Wolfram understand. An awkward silence followed his outburst, and Yuuri was soon reduced to examining the tassels hanging at the edges of the canopy, as if doing so would make the atmosphere less uncomfortable.

Quietly, Wolfram sat down next to him, picking up Anissina's discarded invention and toying with it absently. After a moment, he said, "Mother does the same for me…when she's around. Conrad and Gwendal did too…when I was younger."

"Oh," Yuuri said. As inadequate as his experience was with regard to being in a relationship, he suddenly remembered that Wolfram's exposure with such matters was just as limited – less even, given his upbringing. Seeing his parents together, Yuuri had at least a fair idea how people in a relationship treat one another. He doubted whether his fiancé had a lot of role models to look up to, what with Lady Cheri's speed in changing romantic partners, Gwendal's perpetually celibate state, and Conrad's…

Wait a second. Had Conrad ever been involved with anyone? Yuuri was about to ask the brooding boy beside him, but then decided that he was veering off topic.

"I'm not good at this," Wolfram eventually said, breaking the silence. "I mean, I don't even know that I should behave in a certain manner in a particular type of situation…like now. I don't know the rules."

_Idiot_, Yuuri scolded himself, taking in the other boy's expression, _Now you made him unhappy_. That was something that he always tried to avoid, particularly because an unhappy Wolfram was a dangerous Wolfram, and Yuuri wasn't stupid to mess with someone who could toast him into a crisp in a second. Not that his fiancé would deliberately harm him, but Yuuri knew fully well that there were some parts of him that Wolfram would have no qualms in scorching – like his eyebrows, for instance. At any rate, Yuuri wasn't too keen on losing any hair in his body in that manner.

But more than that, Yuuri genuinely wanted things to work out between them. He never thought that he had it in him to want this relationship so badly, but since he decided that he did, maybe it was time to take a few more steps.

Yuuri sat back up, positioning himself so that he was now seated right beside Wolfram. In an attempt to make things better, he put in, "Should there be rules? I mean, shouldn't we just…act normally and then take it from there?"

The other boy shrugged. "If you're fine with it. You're the one who has all these expectations."

"Fair enough," said Yuuri, "but I'm sure you must have some too? Expectations, I mean."

"Nothing much, really," Wolfram answered rather dispassionately, glancing at him askance. "Of course I expect you to stop flirting with anything that moves—"

"I don't flirt—!" Yuuri started heatedly, but Wolfram cut him off with a disdainful wave of the hand.

"Whatever. But like I said, I don't really expect anything else to change. I can't really keep you to myself now, can I?"

Yuuri blinked at the boy's candidness, and he was suddenly reminded of the brief spat they had this morning, when they had just arrived from Earth. He knew that Wolfram could be incredibly possessive, but this was the first time that he did not feel cowed at the thought. He sighed in frustration. "I did tell you that I love you…were you even listening?"

"I was," Wolfram said softly. "But…nothing's really changed, right? We don't treat each other any differently from before…"

A light seemed to flash inside his head, and despite himself, Yuuri broke into a smile. All this time, he had been expecting for some sort of special treatment from his fiancé, but it would appear as if Wolfram had also been waiting for the same thing from him.

"What's so funny?" Wolfram asked after a while, glowering at him.

"Us," Yuuri replied quickly, forestalling all further arguments. "We're both being stupid. Tell you what, why don't we just start now?"

"Start what?"

"Acting like a couple," Yuuri said simply, gently taking one of Wolfram's hands in his own. "_Being_ a couple."

Wolfram regarded him skeptically. "You're still sick, aren't you?"

"Yes, but I know what I'm saying," he answered lightly. "And you can forget what I said earlier. I shouldn't force you into being extra nice just because I'm sick…"

Wolfram colored a little bit. "Well, about that…I think you might have a point."

There was a dull thud as Anissina's now-unneeded contraption fell onto the floor and rolled away from them. Wolfram had twisted to face him, pulling him into what would be their first embrace as a couple. A few seconds passed before Yuuri gained enough sense to return the gesture. A bit surprising, Yuuri thought, but also way overdue.

Wolfram started squirming uncomfortably after a few seconds. Worried that he might be doing something wrong, Yuuri asked, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," came the self-conscious response. "You're just so…_hot_."

"Am I now?" Yuuri said, laughing. He knew that Wolfram was referring to his temperature, but he found it amusing that his fiancé didn't have any inkling that the last word he had so innocently used had another meaning on Earth. He couldn't help but reply with, "I think you are too."

Wolfram was predictably uncomprehending. "What?"

Yuuri leaned back, laughing. Then impulsively, he leaned forward and gave his adorably-mystified fiancé a peck on the cheek. Wolfram flushed, but his expression quickly shifted from embarrassment into something else entirely – a look of determination that indicated quite clearly that he was not about to be outdone.

He gave Yuuri a resolute glare. "Surely _that_ isn't your idea of our first kiss?"

Yuuri's eyes widened at that, and before he could react, Wolfram made his move and kissed him full in the mouth. Again, it took Yuuri a few beats to get his act together, but when he finally did, he found himself reciprocating as best as his limited experience allowed.

It was all a bit unexpected, but again it was – in Yuuri's opinion – long overdue.

* * *

Shori pulled him aside some minutes later. Worried that this might have something to do with his aborted painting session with Miko-san, Kei started to explain, "Shori-san. Look, I was just—"

"I know," said Shori evenly, although there was still a hint of irritation in his voice. "I overreacted. I'm sorry."

Kei blinked, all intended explanations coming to a halt at the tip of his tongue. "Oh, okay…"

"Anyway, Bob called earlier. He can't wait for the storm to clear, so he just asked me to pick up that thing that he wanted you to work on…"

Shori beckoned to him and led him back to the room. Kei's painting materials were still scattered by the coffee table, and out of embarrassment, he moved to shove everything back into his bag. Shori stopped him before he could step away.

"Don't mind the mess," said Shori. "I have something to show you. I need to explain what Bob needs from you before I forget anything."

Kei obeyed with a nod, turning a curious eye towards the large parcel that Shori had brought with him earlier. The latter tore the packaging open with some difficulty, exposing a…framed canvas.

Kei stared. It was a painting. Two paintings to be exact.

Unconsciously, Kei approached, barely stopping himself from touching the painted surface. Shori moved the frames and propped them back against the wall, affording them both a better view.

Two pairs of eyes stared at them from the canvas – one a light blue, like a cloudless sky on a summer morning, and the other a gleaming black, like a patch of the heavens during the darkest of nights. Two men who were as different as two people could be. One was dark-haired, with sharp, intelligent eyes and a tranquil smile. The other was blond and fair and majestic and…so achingly _familiar_.

Kei took a step forward, mesmerized, and all at once, several questions burst off inside him. Who made these portraits? Who were the subjects? Why were they both wearing such antiquated clothing? And…

Kei frowned. He had been so absorbed in examining the faces that he did not immediately notice that the paintings were damaged. He hissed in indignation as his eyes took in the long, diagonal knife-slashes that separated a part of the men's faces from the rest of their bodies. It was almost like a beheading of sorts.

Why was such a work of art defaced so violently?

Kei's brow creased slightly as he pulled away. He had gotten too close to the canvas and he caught a hint of something unpleasant, something…putrid. Was it the paint? But paint didn't smell like that. Kei thought it smelled quite like animal waste.

_"Back in my country, we use derivatives from animal excrements to paint—" _

Kei stopped again. Now where did that come from? He smiled and shook his head softly. _No_, he told himself, _stop thinking about him. _ But as soon as he thought that, an image of a boy standing in the rain came to him so suddenly, overriding his senses with a cascade of emotions, the most prominent of which was regret.

_Wolfram_.

Even the name sounded like something that just came from a dream. Unreal. Imaginary. Like everything else that happened that day. Kei had never told anyone of that strange encounter, partly because he wasn't sure how much had been real, and partly because he wanted to keep that memory all to himself. He doubted whether he'd see Wolfram again, but at least he had that memory – as well as that painting he'd made – as tokens of remembrance.

"Bob wanted you to replicate these paintings."

With some difficulty, Kei disentangled himself from his thoughts and turned a questioning gaze to his companion. Shori elaborated, "As you can see, these were…er…damaged quite extensively. Restoring them proved to be tricky, so Bob decided to have them replicated instead. Someone told him about you, so, here we are."

The explanation did not make much sense to Kei. And besides, there were so many better painters in the world, let alone the country. Why pick him? He decided to ask, "Who are they?"

Shori hesitated. "Er…they're…very important people…from a far-away country. This is a gift for someone. It's…a very complicated story."

The last statement indicated dismissal, and it was clear that Kei wasn't supposed to ask any more questions. He shrugged, looked back at one of the paintings – that of the fair-haired, blue-eyed man – and commented, "He looks like someone I know."

Shori snorted. "It's quite an ordinary face."

Kei silently disagreed. It was a face he had seen before, on a rainy day quite like this one, on the streets near an amusement park. The blond man could be Wolfram's older brother. He perked at the thought. Maybe, just maybe…

"I'll leave you to it then," Shori said. "When the rain stops, I could take you to a hotel instead. Bob gave me an _exorbitant_ amount for your accommodation." He shook his head, clearly thinking that everything was such a waste of money. "Anyway, you can also stay here if you want – if you can still keep up with my mother, that is."

And Shori left him alone to think about that offer. Kei's thoughts however, were on a different matter entirely.

He stood silently before the paintings for a little while longer, frowning to himself. Then making up his mind, he ran up to the bedroom that he had been staying in, grabbed the canvas he had stowed in a corner, and raced back down. Unwrapping the smaller portrait he had made of Wolfram, Kei propped it next to the blond man's painting. He stood back to examine them.

Aside from the obvious disparity in the brush strokes, as well as the different eye colors, the paintings were eerily alike. Were the subjects related? Or was the uncanny resemblance just a coincidence? Shori said that the blond man was a very important person from a far-off country… Could it be Wolfram's country as well? But if it were, how did the entire Shibuya family factor into this?

Kei sighed. His speculations were getting him nowhere. He had half a mind to go after Shori and ask him some more questions, but halfway out the door, he wavered and stopped. How was he supposed to phrase his queries without sounding like a delusional individual – or worse, a fixated stalker? He took a deep breath and gathered his materials.

_Give it up, Kei_, he told himself. _Just give it up._

Then, quieting the tumultuous churning of his own thoughts, Kei sat down and instead began to work.

* * *

"Who gets a cold in the middle of summer? Seriously, Wolf…"

Wolfram peered from underneath a bundle of blankets and gave his fiancé a venomous glare. He could have sworn that Yuuri had been waiting to throw that remark back at his face.

"Wimp," he muttered darkly.

Under Gisela's expert care, Yuuri had recovered quickly in just three days' time, but just after, Wolfram found himself suffering from the exact same symptoms. It was inevitable, Gisela had said, given that he shared a bed with Yuuri. Wolfram privately thought that it was the kissing that eventually did him in, but he wasn't going to tell anyone that.

"You'll get better," Yuuri said, joining him on the bed. "And you have to. There's that ball this weekend remember?"

It was to honor Shinou's victory in a battle from some long-forgotten age, but Wolfram had trouble remembering which one. "I'll be fine in no time, you'll see," he said haughtily. A cold wouldn't stop him from attending. He needed to guard Yuuri from all the predatory women who would surely be in abundance as soon as the party commences.

Yuuri's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Bet you won't beat my three days recovery period though."

Wolfram rolled his eyes. Why make everything into a contest? He asked crossly, "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Gunter?"

Yuuri stared at him in mock-sorrow. "First, you complain that I spend too much time with everybody else. Now that I'm here, you try to send me away."

"I'm not," he huffed. "I just don't want _him_ coming in here to drag you away and ruin my day."

"Er, about that…" Yuuri trailed off and scooted closer to his side, burrowing deep into the blankets. "Gunter _might_ come here later. I think a lot of people will…if they manage to find me, that is."

Wolfram flushed, slightly distracted at his fiancé's proximity, but he did not fail to register the boy's last statement. He frowned and echoed, "They?"

"We're playing sardines," Yuuri explained. "It's like hide-and-seek, but instead of one person searching for the others, it's one person hiding from the rest. _I'm_ hiding."

"_Here_?" Wolfram asked incredulously. "And what happens if they find you?"

"They'll have to join me and hide too," said the other boy simply. "The last one who finds me here loses."

"And just how many people are you playing with?"

"Er…quite a few."

"_Yuuri!_" Wolfram howled, not at all keen about the thought of sharing the bed with "quite a few" more people.

Yuuri winced and said sheepishly, "There's Murata, Gunter, Anissina, and Greta…"

"Only the five of you?" he asked suspiciously.

The other boy continued, "Yozak and Conrad sorta joined us somewhere in between, I think."

"You _think_?" Wolfram repeated, now horrified. It was starting to sound as if his fiancé was playing the game with half the occupants of the castle.

"And," Yuuri went on, "there's the three maids and Dacascos and some off-duty guards—"

"Get out," Wolfram snapped, not wanting to hear more. "Hide somewhere else."

"But Wolf…!"

Darn it. Yuuri was using _that_ voice on him, the one that he secretly found quite charming. Wolfram was starting to melt, but the thought of having Gunter or Yozak or Dacascos in the same bed was incentive enough for him to keep arguing.

"Do you realize what you're asking me to be a part of? I don't want anybody else in this bed."

"Then would you like us to move to the closet?" Yuuri asked with a straight face.

Wolfram snorted. "Right. Stuck together inside a narrow space with twenty-odd other people. Just what the healer ordered."

"Well if we're careful and the others don't find us, then it would be just the two of us stuck inside a narrow space," his fiancé pointed out. "Think of the possibilities."

Wolfram was momentarily tempted at the thought, but he shook his head in the end. "Conrad will find us within an hour, and Yozak, in a heartbeat. I'm surprised neither of them have tracked you down by no—ahh!"

Wolfram jerked back as somebody suddenly hopped onto the bed. Yuuri mirrored his reaction, retreating until his back was flat against the headboard.

"Sorry 'bout that," said Yozak, beaming at them. And before either of them could speak, the man casually sauntered over to Yuuri's side, drawing the blankets over himself too. "But this is brilliant, Heika. Who would have ever thought of hiding in a bed?"

It was difficult to decipher whether Yozak was being sarcastic, but Wolfram was sure that the latter was making fun of them. "This isn't happening," he told himself, closing his eyes tightly, willing the image of the grinning spy to disappear.

"Come on, Wolf," said Yuuri in a placating tone. "This should be fun."

"I doubt that," he answered through clenched teeth.

"Well, if this bothers you that much," Yozak chimed in, "Heika and I could move to another hiding place." The man gave them a sly grin. "I know a _very_ secret spot, Heika. Nobody would find us there, and it could be just you and me _alone_ for _hours_…"

Wolfram felt himself going red at the thought. He glared at his fiancé. "Don't you _dare_…"

Yuuri actually smiled at him, looking for all the world as though Wolfram had just uttered something incredibly romantic. He also looked like he was beginning to enjoy himself immensely. Yuuri opened his mouth to speak, but another voice interrupted before he could get any word out.

"It isn't hide-and-seek if you're all being too noisy," chided Conrad, emerging from behind the gossamer curtains of the four-poster bed. "You shouldn't give away your location that easily."

Wolfram covered his eyes with one hand. "Oh no…"

"Hi Conrad," Yuuri said awkwardly.

"Good work, Captain," Yozak piped in, and it was hard not to miss the laughter in his voice. "You're only the second one here. Hop in!"

Conrad regarded them all with a good-natured smile. "So…where should I stay?"

Wolfram groaned wretchedly. It was hard to imagine that the game had just begun.

* * *

Out of all the things that he had done in his life, Yuuri thought that this would count as one of the weirdest. Not only was he playing a childish game with several grown-up people – with two decorated soldiers at that – but he was also sharing a bed with three of them right now.

He turned to his left. Conrad and Yozak lay side by side, both staring at the canopy with identical glazed expressions. Anissina – who was the third person to find them – had taken her spot at the farthest end, already asleep from the looks of it. To his right, Wolfram lay stiffly at the very edge of the bed, his arms knotted tightly around his torso. He hadn't moved for the past ten minutes, prompting Yuuri to check every now and then to see if he was still breathing. The boy seemed truly displeased by this, which was honestly not Yuuri's intention at all.

Convincing Gunter to let him take a break from all the preparations for the ball was no mean feat. But after Yuuri's suggestion of playing a game – _this_ game in particular – his tutor's eyes had literally sparkled with what appeared to be anticipation and something else that he could not identify, and had readily agreed to start playing. Gunter insisted though, that Yuuri should be the one that everybody would have to look for.

Getting the players was a lot easier. With the exception of Gwendal – who had turned his nose up, disgusted at the suggestion – everybody else within the vicinity agreed to join the game. Yuuri of course, who had engineered everything particularly to get a free pass out of his duties and visit Wolfram, made a beeline for their bedroom. He thought that Wolfram would be happy to see him, but then he had completely forgotten that he would have a lot of people in tow – people moreover, that his fiancé was not so enthusiastic on seeing, much less sharing the bed with.

Yuuri sighed and reached out for the boy. "Hey Wolf…? You asleep?"

"Do I look like it?" Wolfram half-snarled at him.

"You're not mad about this, are you?"

"Do I look like it?" the boy repeated.

"Wolf…" Yuuri let out another sigh and said, "I'm sorry. I know you're sick, but I was worried…"

"You sure have a funny way of showing it," Wolfram commented wryly.

"I…I just…wanted to…" His voice dropped into a whisper, and he leaned closer so that only Wolfram could hear him. "I just wanted to…be with you today…"

Wolfram still did not turn to look at him, but the angry lines in his face smoothed out at that. A second passed and he finally unfastened his hands to take Yuuri's.

"Am I forgiven now?" he asked hopefully. When he did not receive an answer, he said, "I could call off the game if you want me to…"

Wolfram squeezed his hand tightly, but before he could reply, they all heard the door opening and closing. The boy stiffened once more, and Yuuri mentally cursed whoever it was who had to come ruin their moment of conciliation. He immediately subsided when the intruder came close enough to be seen.

It was Greta.

The girl's face lit up at her discovery. "Found you, Yuuri!" she cried. "Was I last?"

"Er…Greta…we're not play—"

He meant to say that they're not playing anymore, but Wolfram silenced him with a look. He then smiled at Greta and said, "You're fourth, Greta. Nice work." And to Yuuri's amazement, the boy extended his hand to beckon Greta to his side.

As their daughter snuggled to Wolfram's part of the bed, Yuuri caught his fiancé's eye and raised one eyebrow. The boy made a face and replied from the side of his mouth, "When Gunter comes, make sure he stays as far away as possible."

Yuuri chuckled and he would have chanced a kiss under cover of the blankets had someone not walked in on them right then.

"My, my, I thought I'd find you here. You really are _so_ predictable, Shibuya."

Yuuri registered Murata's glinting glasses before he saw the rest of the boy's face. The sage was smirking, and there was something in his eyes that made Yuuri blush furiously. "If you'd really thought of that earlier," he muttered, "you should have been the first one here."

"Well," said Murata, "I figured I'd let some people go first. The more, the merrier and all that." His grin widened as he surveyed the occupants of the overcrowded bed. "Though, I wasn't really expecting to be in bed with _this _many people. This is a first for me."

"I hear you, Geika," Yozak answered cheerfully. "I mean, I could handle three, maybe four, but more than that…This is really something, right? Though we're not really doing anything…"

Murata chuckled. "You could use your imagination I guess…"

"Guess I'd have to settle for that. It's not like I can start anything here with someone like Heika on board…"

"Pity," said the sage. "Quite a shame to waste a good bed…"

"Especially this one. Hey, Heika, you do know that a bed isn't just for sleeping right?"

"Yozak," said Conrad warningly, "we have a child here…"

As if on cue, Greta raised her head and asked, "What are you all talking about? What other things do you do in a bed?"

Wolfram grumbled, "Okay, everyone should shut up now." And then more softly, he added, "Don't listen to them, Greta."

A whine. "But I want to know!"

Yozak said, voice quivering with laughter, "It's something that _most_ of us here have done, Princess, except of course, your father."

Greta blinked. "Wolfram?"

"I was referring to Heika," the spy answered, "but that's a fair question. Have you done it before, Wolfram?"

"Yozak!" Wolfram said dangerously. "What part of 'shut up' do you not comprehend?"

"She wouldn't know what we're talking about anyway," Yozak said. "It's not as if the Princess knew what se—"

"YOZAK!" The snarl was accompanied by a short burst of flame that rose up with a hiss from Wolfram's palm, narrowly missing the canopy. It wasn't enough to burn the bed, but it was completely sufficient to get Wolfram's point across. The spy muttered something indistinct under his breath, but he didn't dare go back to their previous topic.

Yuuri had been too busy watching Wolfram's face the entire time, thinking that he would like to take the boy out again – only the two of them this time – on a…a date. That brief excursion they had with Greta back on Earth had been cut much too short, and it didn't really qualify as a date now that he had time to think about it.

He had the beginnings of a romantic trip drafted out in his mind, and so engrossed was he in filling in the details of his would-be date with Wolfram that he only caught the tail end of his friends' conversation. Most of what everyone had been talking and joking about merely passed through his ears without leaving any trace of meaning at all.

"Er…" he inserted during the lull in the conversation, "…what were you all talking about?"

Silence. He could almost hear a crow cawing in the distance. Then to Yuuri's bewilderment, Yozak started rolling with laughter, Murata's eyes gleamed with hilarity, and Wolfram gave him an odd look that was part disbelieving, part amused, and somewhat affectionate. He couldn't see Conrad's expression but Yuuri was sure that the man was also smiling at his expense. At least Anissina was asleep; that was one less person who had to make fun of his ignorance.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"If you'd care for a demonstration, Heika—" Yozak began, but Conrad cut in.

"Yozak, please," the man said, but his reprimand came across as a bit halfhearted. "Like I said, we have a child here…"

"Make that two," Wolfram quipped, much to Yuuri's continued confusion. He gave his fiancé a wounded look, but the latter only gave him a vague sort of smile.

"You said it," Murata agreed. Then as he moved to insert himself between Yozak and Yuuri, the sage remarked, "I can't wait for Lord von Christ to get here. He'd certainly make things more exciting."

His comment was met with a huff of disapproval from Wolfram and an expectant snigger from Yozak. Yuuri scowled at everyone and did not bother to react.

But as it were, the game ended by midday and Gunter never came.

* * *

Wolfram got better after only two days, just in time for the ball. But Yuuri had to endure the boy's gloating, for despite his prediction, Wolfram was out of bed faster than anybody else could have foreseen. He guessed that pure-blooded demons really did have super-healing qualities in their blood.

But Yuuri wasn't complaining. Now that he had sorted everything out with Wolfram, it was hard not to be so jubilant all the time. Everyone was beginning to notice, and though it caused the occasional awkward moment with people teasing them about their newfound intimacy, Yuuri couldn't care less. He was happy. Wolfram was happy too. It couldn't get any better than that.

The only two people who did not seem that pleased with the progress of their relationship were Gwendal and Gunter. Yuuri could understand Gunter's reaction. Some time in the past months, he began to appreciate that his tutor's feelings for him were a lot stronger than he initially thought, that the man's crankiness came across as a perfectly natural reaction. On the other hand, Gwendal was just…weird. It wasn't that he wasn't happy with this, Yuuri concluded in the end. Gwendal just probably didn't know how to react properly.

And speaking of the devil…

"There you are, Heika. I need a word." Gwendal had just emerged from the library, blocking his path, leaving no avenue for escape.

Yuuri eyed the man warily. "Is something wrong?"

"There's a parcel that the Earth Maou wanted to send us for the ball. It's a gift for Shinou-Heika."

"Oh." Yuuri masked his relief with an expression of curiosity. For a moment there, he thought the man would start quizzing him about his relationship with Wolfram. "What do you want me to do?"

"You should go pick it up," said the man. "You're the only one who has the means to travel there. Apparently, the gifts are in your house."

"But…but…" He was on his way to meet Wolfram and Greta for lunch, and there was no way that he'd trade that for a trip back to Earth just to run an errand. "Why not ask Murata?"

"The gift is for him as well. And besides, I could not just order the Great Sage for such a mundane task."

"You're ordering _me_!" said Yuuri indignantly. Did he miss a lesson about the hierarchical classification of things? Wasn't the king supposed to trump everybody else in the order?

In response, Gwendal said, "Right, of course, Heika." The man turned away for a moment, and just when Yuuri thought that he was off the hook, Gwendal glanced back at him and said offhandedly, "By the way, Gunter is searching for you. He didn't take it too well that he lost in your little game the other day. It seems that he wants another round."

"Huh?" Yuuri blinked at the change of topic. "Yeah…he never found us. He kept complaining that it was your fault that he lost."

"He has a point. I told him that I saw you riding out to Shinou's Temple," answered Gwendal, a smile pulling at the edges of his lips.

"But…why…?"

"I thought it best that Gunter didn't get too near Wolfram while he was still sick. If you noticed, they do rub each other the wrong way."

Yuuri stared at the man, surprised, but then he thought that he shouldn't be. He had long known that Gwendal would do just about anything for the sake of his brothers.

Gwendal continued, "Anyway, Heika, Gunter would be thrilled at another shot. He has not stopped talking about getting to you first and spending time alone with you in some secluded corner in the castle."

Yuuri shivered for some reason. "W-what…?"

"He must have filled twenty pages in his diary of his imagined private tryst with you…"

Yuuri's face turned beet-red. "You're joking…"

Gwendal offered, "I could ask Yozak to pilfer Gunter's diary for you…just to give you an idea what I am talking about. Gunter's prose is quite…_vivid_."

"N-n-no!" Yuuri sputtered. "I don't need to read anything!" He had a brush with Gunter's infamous diary in the past and he had zero desire to repeat that occurrence. "Tell Gunter that I won't be around. I'm…I'm going to Earth to pick up Shinou's gifts."

"Of course, Heika."

One, two, three. It took that exact number of seconds for Yuuri to realize that he'd just been had.

Gwendal smiled at him. "You should depart immediately, Heika."

"I…you…"

"I would not hold it against you if you change your mind, Heika. But I _would_ of course tell Gunter to start searching for you."

Yuuri scowled, feeling trapped, cheated of a supposedly worry-free lunch with his daughter and fiancé. "Fine, I'm going."

Gwendal's smile broadened. "See you soon then, Heika."

* * *

Weird, Kei thought. He had desperately longed to leave the Shibuya household just a few days ago, but now that he had already left, he found himself wanting to return so badly.

His task was completed, and – as a thrilled Pierre informed him – he was paid rather handsomely for it. He still found the entire experience rather strange, but as he did gain a small fortune for it, he guessed that he could just put it behind him and move on. And besides, he also had the chance to stay in a really interesting, if not unconventional, household. Miko-san's eccentricities notwithstanding, Kei felt that the overall experience had been…fun.

There was that small mystery of the paintings that he had just redone, but Shori had obstinately refused to answer any of his questions. He briefly debated whether he ought to have shown him Wolfram's painting, but Kei decided against it in the—

_Oh crap! _

Kei straightened up suddenly, surprising Pierre who was seated beside him in the limousine that his rich client had graciously provided for them. He forgot Wolfram's painting! He remembered wrapping it up again and then placing it alongside the other canvases – the ones for his client – in the…the…

"The sitting room!" he blurted out loud.

"Kei-san?" Pierre was staring at him curiously. "What's the matter?"

"Turn around," Kei barked at the driver. "I forgot something. We need to go back."

"But we have another engagement," Pierre protested. "We have to go. We can't be late!"

Kei didn't really care that much, but he saw his assistant's point. He said instead, "Stop the car then. Go ahead of me and explain to everyone. I'll take a taxi and meet you there."

"B-but…"

"I'll be there," Kei promised, one foot already out of the vehicle. "This is important." And before his assistant could respond, he was running off into the streets, back into the house that he had just emerged from. It was a good thing that they hadn't gone that far.

The door was open, and to Kei's consternation, Miko-san was right by it, as though she had been waiting for him to come back. She had on that flowery apron that she usually wore around the house, and in one hand, she was waving a curry-stained spatula, almost like a wand. She reminded Kei of a wispy, hare-brained fairy.

"Kei-chan!" she squealed in delight. "What a nice surprise! Have you come back to finish my portrait?"

Kei tried to look harassed and busy, which wasn't that hard. "I would love to but I really don't have the time. Er…is Shori-san still here? I think I forgot one of my paintings in the sitting room…"

"Sho-chan already left," Miko informed him, nibbling childishly on the edge of the spatula. "He said he had something important to do."

"Did he take _all_ the canvases with him?"

"No. Yuu-chan did."

Kei hesitated. "Yuu…chan?"

"Oh right," said Miko, clapping her hands together. "You still haven't met him, have you? My youngest? He's in the bathroom, with the paintings…"

"Er…bathroom?"

"I think he's trying to fit in the canvases through the tub," said the woman casually. "I'm not sure if he managed to completely immerse them in the water by now…"

The words "tub", "canvases", and "water" sent Kei's mind reeling with distress. What in the world was happening? Miko-san did not even look like she was joking. Well, there was no other way for it but to ask.

"Can I…?" he asked dazedly, "…go see your son…in the bathroom?" His question sounded wrong on so many different levels.

"Oh okay. He's upstairs." Kei forced his limbs to move, and as he made his way up to the second floor, he heard Miko call out to him, "Ask Yuu-chan to come down for a snack, okay? He shouldn't travel on an empty stomach!"

Kei didn't understand but he yelled out an affirmative response nonetheless. Upon reaching the entrance to the bathroom, he hesitated for a second before gathering the nerve to knock.

"_Mom!_" a voice responded from the other side. A boy. "For the last time, I'm fine. I don't need to eat okay? I have to go. Everyone's waiting for me."

Strange words for someone inside a bathroom, Kei thought. Just as he was wondering how best to reply, he heard the unmistakable splash of a large object being thrown into the water.

Kei froze for a moment.

Then, seized with a mental image of _his_ paintings being completely inundated in the tub for whatever outrageous reason, he turned the knob and forced the door open.

* * *

_A/N: It's official – this definitely isn't going to turn into a series of one-shots. I'm just having fun with the story right now, and I still don't have the faintest idea where the plot will lead to. However, I just set up the stage for another game, and another interesting (I hope) encounter. Anyway, thanks to those who reviewed the past chapter! _

_PS: Know an interesting game? Send me a message/review and it just might appear here somewhere down the road. Thanks for reading!_


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